Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:49
And judge, [O Muhammad], between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations and beware of them, lest they tempt you away from some of what Allah has revealed to you. And if they turn away - then know that Allah only intends to afflict them with some of their [own] sins. And indeed, many among the people are defiantly disobedient.
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 the statement of Him, mighty is His remembrance: وَأَنِ احْكُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ وَلا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ وَاحْذَرْهُمْ أَنْ يَفْتِنُوكَ عَنْ بَعْضِ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَنْ يُصِيبَهُمْ بِبَعْضِ ذُنُوبِهِمْ وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنَ النَّاسِ لَفَاسِقُونَ (5:49) ("And judge between them by what Allah has sent down, and do not follow their desires, and beware of them, lest they divert you from a part of what Allah has sent down to you. And if they turn away, then know that Allah wills to strike them on account of a part of their sins. And truly, many of the people are corrupt (fāsiqūn).")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His remembrance, means by His statement: "and judge between them by what Allah has sent down" — We have sent down to you, O Muḥammad, the Book as a confirmation of what preceded it of the Book, and: judge between them. Thus "an" ("that/so that") stands in the case-position of the accusative, governed by "the sending down (al-tanzīl)."
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And He means by His statement: "by what Allah has sent down" — by the judgment of Allah which He has sent down to you in His Book.
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As for His statement: "and do not follow their desires" — this is a prohibition from Allah to His prophet Muḥammad, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, that he should follow the desires of the Jews who turned to him for a judgment concerning their slain one and their two adulterers; and it is a command from Him to him to hold fast to acting in accordance with His Book which He has sent down to him.
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And His statement: "and beware of them, lest they divert you from a part of what Allah has sent down to you" — He, exalted is His remembrance, says to His prophet Muḥammad, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him: Beware, O Muḥammad, of these Jews who came to you to ask you for a judgment — "lest they divert you," that is to say: lest they turn you away from a part of what Allah has sent down to you of the judgment of His Book, so that they bring you to abandon acting in accordance with it and to follow their desires.
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And His statement: "And if they turn away, then know that Allah wills to strike them on account of a part of their sins" — He, exalted is His remembrance, says: And if these Jews, who submitted their dispute to you, turn away from you and abandon acting in accordance with what you have judged concerning them and decided in their affair, "then know that Allah only wills to strike them on account of a part of their sins" — He says: then know that they have only turned away from contentment with your judgment — while you judged in accordance with the truth — because Allah wills that their punishment be hastened in the present worldly life on account of a part of their past sins. "And truly, many of the people are corrupt (fāsiqūn)" — He says: and truly, many of the Jews are "corrupt," that is to say: those who abandon acting in accordance with the Book of Allah, and who go out from His obedience into His disobedience.
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And in line with what we have said about this, the report has come from the people of the explanation.
Mention of who said that:
12150 - Abū Kurayb related to me, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, the freedman of Zayd ibn Thābit, related to me, saying: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr or ʿIkrima related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Kaʿb ibn Asad, Ibn Ṣūriyā, and Shaʾs ibn Qays said to one another: Come, let us go to Muḥammad; perhaps we can divert him from his religion! So they came to him and said: O Muḥammad, you know that we are the rabbis of the Jews, their nobles and their leaders, and that if we follow you, the Jews will follow us and will not contradict us. And there is a dispute between us and our tribesmen; let us submit them to you for a judgment, and judge then in our favor against them, and we will believe in you and hold you to be truthful! But the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, refused, and Allah sent down concerning them: "And judge between them by what Allah has sent down, and do not follow their desires, and beware of them, lest they divert you from a part of what Allah has sent down to you," up to His statement: لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ ("for a people who have certainty").
12151 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: "and beware of them, lest they divert you from a part of what Allah has sent down to you," he said: that they would say: "In the Torah it stands thus and so" — while We have set forth to you what is in the Torah. And he recited: وَكَتَبْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ فِيهَا أَنَّ النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِ وَالْعَيْنَ بِالْعَيْنِ وَالأَنْفَ بِالأَنْفِ وَالأُذُنَ بِالأُذُنِ وَالسِّنَّ بِالسِّنِّ وَالْجُرُوحَ قِصَاصٌ [Surah Al-Māʾidah: 45] ("And We prescribed for them therein: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds retaliation (qiṣāṣ)"), the one against the other.
12152 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: The Magians (majūs) are included together with the People of the Book in this verse: "and judge between them by what Allah has sent down."
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Footnotes:
(33) His statement: "and their two adulterers" means the Jewish man and the Jewish woman who committed fornication (zinā), and he, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, had her stoned.
(34) See the explanation of "al-fitna" (diverting/seducing) in what has already preceded 10: 317, note: 2, and the references there.
(35) See the explanation of "tawallā" (turning away) in what has already preceded 10: 336, note: 3, and the references there.
(36) See the explanation of "al-iṣāba" (the striking) in what has already preceded 8: 514, 538, 540, 555.
(37) See the explanation of "al-fisq" (moral corruption) in what has already preceded 10: 393, note: 3, and the references there.
(38) In Ibn Hishām it stands: "and Ibn Ṣalūbā, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣūriyā".
(39) The report 12150: Sīrat Ibn Hishām 2: 216, and it is a continuation of the preceding report no.: 11974.