Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:159

A group has reported from Ibn Abbas—may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him—who said: Muadh ibn Jabal, Sa‘d ibn Muadh, and Kharijah ibn Zayd asked a group of Jewish scholars about some of what was in the Torah, but they concealed it from them and refused to inform them. Thus, Allah the Exalted revealed this verse concerning them.

It is also narrated from Qatadah that it was revealed concerning those among the Jews and Christians who conceal [the truth]. It is said: It was revealed concerning everyone who conceals anything from the rulings of the religion, due to the generality of the ruling applying to all. Indeed, al-Bukhari, Ibn Majah, and others narrated from Abu Hurayrah—may Allah be pleased with him—that he said: "Were it not for a verse in the Book of Allah, I would never have narrated anything to anyone," and then he recited this verse. Abu Ya‘la and al-Tabarani reported with a sound chain from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them—that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Whoever is asked about knowledge and conceals it, he will come on the Day of Resurrection bridled with a bridle of fire."

The closest [interpretation] is that it was revealed concerning the Jews, but the ruling is general, as the reports indicate. That it was revealed regarding the Jews does not necessitate exclusivity, for the rule is based on the generality of the wording, not the specificity of the cause. Therefore, the relative pronoun (alladhina) is for inclusion (istighraq), and those mentioned [the Jews] enter into it primarily.

Kitman (concealment) is the intentional failure to manifest a thing when there is a need for it and a valid motivation to reveal it. This may occur merely by hiding or veiling it, or by removing it and placing something else in its stead; and the Jews—may Allah slay them—committed both matters.

{مَا أَنْزَلْنَا} upon the prophets, {مِنَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ}, meaning the clear signs indicating the truth—and among that is what We revealed to Musa and ‘Isa (peace be upon them both) regarding the affair of Muhammad (ﷺ).

{وَالْهُدَى} is conjoined to {الْبَيِّنَاتِ}, and both refer to that which guides to rectitude absolutely. Among these are the things that guide to the obligation of following him (ﷺ) and believing in him, which are the signs testifying to his truthfulness (peace and blessings be upon him). The conjunction is based on a difference in concept, like "The eater came to me, then the drinker." Others say it is conjoined to {مَا أَنْزَلْنَا}, where the first refers to transmitted proofs (naqliyyah) and the second includes rational proofs (aqliyyah), or the first refers to the revelation and the second to the benefits derived from it. It is not hidden that this is forced, which the proximity of the conjoined item rejects.

{التَّبْيِينُ} denotes the perfection of clarity in His saying, the Almighty: {مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا بَيَّنَّاهُ لِلنَّاسِ}, meaning: We explained it and manifested it to them. The prepositional phrase relates to {يَكْتُمُونَ}. The "lam" in {لِلنَّاسِ} connects to {بَيَّنَّاهُ}, or it is the "lam" of purpose (al-ajl). They refer to the genus or all mankind. Restricting the concealment to this clause is an indication of the heinousness of their state, as they conceal what has been made clear to people, and of the gravity of the sin, as they conceal what holds public benefit.

{فِي الْكِتَابِ} relates to {بَيَّنَّاهُ}. Having two prepositional phrases relate to one verb, given a difference in meaning, is undoubtedly permissible. Alternatively, it relates to a hidden state (hal) from its object [the pronoun referring to the revelations]. "The Book" is understood as the genus, though some say the Torah, others the Injil, others the Quran. "The people" are the nation of Muhammad (ﷺ). Some have interpreted "the clear signs" as what is in the Quran and related "after We made it clear" to "We revealed," interpreting "the Book" as the Torah and "concealment" as the failure to acknowledge its validity. Perhaps our own view is superior to all of these.

{أُولَئِكَ يَلْعَنُهُمُ اللَّهُ}—meaning, He distances them from His mercy and lets them taste the painfulness of His retribution. The shift to the third person (iltifat) while revealing the Name of Essence (Allah) is to cultivate awe and to signal that the source of the curse is the Attribute of Majesty, which is distinct from the Attribute of Beauty from which revelation and clarification emanate.

The fa (ف) was not brought in this sentence—which is the predicate of the relative pronoun—as it was in the later saying of the Almighty: {فَأُولَئِكَ أَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِمْ}, even though the relative pronoun contains the meaning of a condition and the intent of causality in both places. This is why the demonstrative pronoun was used, for the linking of the ruling to it is like linking it to a derivative noun. It is said: [It was omitted] so as not to cause the misconception that their cursing is only for this reason, based on the fact that the fa of causality, in principle, suggests that the caused effect occurs after the cause without delay. Sometimes this is intended by the context, as in the later verse, but it is not the case here; rather, there are numerous causes. By this, it is known that the demonstrative pronoun does not suffice in place of the fa, because it signals causality but does not signal the immediacy that suggests exclusivity (due to the impossibility of multiple causes occurring simultaneously).

{وَيَلْعَنُهُمُ اللَّاعِنُونَ}—meaning, whoever is capable of cursing them from among the angels and the two weighty ones (jinn and mankind). The "cursers" refers to its literal meaning, not in the sense of the common phrase "the killer killed someone." The "inclusion" is conventional—meaning every individual covered by the word according to common usage, not absolute, lest one argue that not every curser in the world actually curses them, thus requiring specification. The verb was repeated because the cursing of the cursers is in the sense of supplicating against them to be distanced from the mercy of Allah the Exalted. Al-Bayhaqi narrated in Shu'ab al-Iman from Mujahid that the "cursers" includes the beasts of the earth, even scorpions and beetles. If so, the plural is akin to the Almighty's saying: {وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ}.

This verse is used as evidence for the obligation of manifesting the knowledge of the Sharia and the prohibition of concealing it. However, they stipulated that the scholar must not fear for his own life, and that the knowledge must be specifically required of him; otherwise, concealment is not forbidden unless he is asked, in which case a response becomes obligatory unless his sin [in answering] would be greater than its benefit. They also said: In it is evidence for the obligation of accepting the report of a single narrator, for the obligation to clarify would not be binding upon him unless the obligation to accept his statement had already been established. It is sometimes used as evidence that this is not obligatory upon women, based on the argument that they are not included in the address to men.