Tafsir of Al Imran 3:113

Ibn Ishaq, al-Tabarani, al-Bayhaqi, and others recorded from Ibn Abbas: When Abdullah bin Salam, Tha’labah bin Shu’bah, Usayd bin Shu’bah, and Usayd bin Ubayd accepted Islam, along with those from the Jews who embraced it with them—believing, testifying, and desiring Islam—the rabbis of the Jews and the deniers among them said, "None believed in Muhammad and followed him except our worst people. Had they been among our best, they would not have abandoned the religion of their forefathers and gone to another." Consequently, Allah the Exalted revealed regarding them: {ليسوا سواء} (They are not alike) up to His saying: {وأولئك من الصالحين} (And those are among the righteous).

This sentence, as our master Shaykh al-Islam stated, is a preamble to enumerating the virtues of the believers among the People of the Book. The plural pronoun refers to all the People of the Book, not exclusively to the sinners. {سواء} is its predicate, and it is singular because it is originally an infinitive (masdar). The pause here is complete, according to the correct view. The intent of negating equality is to negate participation in the essence of being characterized by vices, not a negation of equality in possessing the ranks of those vices while still sharing the essence of the characterization; such examples are frequent in speech.

This is a new beginning (isti’naf) that clarifies the manner of this inequality and removes the ambiguity within it. Abu Ubaydah said: "It is one speech with the preceding part," and he made {أمة} the predicate of {سواء}, in the manner of the dialect phrase "ate me the fleas." It has also been said that {أمة} is nominative because of {سواء}. Both views are manifestly weak.

Placing {أهل الكتاب} in the position of the pronoun serves to increase their honor and indicate care for them. {قائمة} is derived from the intransitive verb qama, meaning "straight/upright" (istaqama); that is, a community upright in the obedience of Allah the Exalted, steadfast upon His command, not turning away from it or abandoning it as the others did, causing it to be lost. Ibn Abbas and others narrated this, and al-Zajjaj claimed that the speech is based on the omission of an added term (mudaf), with the estimation being "possessors of an upright community" (dhu ummatin qa'imah). However, this is a departure from the apparent meaning without evidence.

The intended "community" here refers to those mentioned in the reason for revelation. Some consider {أهل الكتاب} to be general, encompassing both Jews and Christians, counting among the mentioned community individuals like the Negus and his companions among the Christians who accepted Islam.

This is an adjective (sifah) for "community" after having already described it as "upright." It is also permissible for it to be a state (hal) from the pronoun in {قائمة}, or from "community" (since it has been described), or from the pronoun in the prepositional phrase serving as its predicate. The meaning is: they recite the Quran.

{آناء الليل} means the hours of the night. Its singular is ana, on the pattern of ’asa. It is also said: ana like ma’an, or ana with a fatha and sukun, or a kasra and sukun. Al-Akhfash narrated anu like jaru; thus, the hamza is a substitute for a ya or a waw. It relates to {يتلون} or {قائمة}. Abu al-Baqa preferred its relation to the latter, based on the principle that if a noun is described, it cannot govern what follows the adjective.

{وهم يسجدون} is a state (hal) from the pronoun in {يتلون}, which is the apparent meaning. The intent is: "while they pray," as it is known that there is no recitation in prostration or bowing; in fact, there is a prohibition against it in those positions, as mentioned in the report. By "their prayer," some refer to the Tahajjud (night prayer), arguing that this is more inclusive of praise and that recitation is easier for them in this than in the obligatory prayers, which are the domain of the Imam. Considering their state during private prayer is rejected by the context of praise, and it is most appropriate to avoid using the generic name which immediately brings to mind the obligatory prayers, and instead use the vague term "hours" (al-ana). The reason for not explicitly saying "Tahajjud" in this interpretation is to avoid the linguistic meaning that lacks inherent praise. Some of the predecessors held that it refers to the ’Atamah (Isha) prayer.

Evidence for this is what Imam Ahmad, al-Nasa’i, Ibn Jarir, and al-Tabarani recorded with a hasan (good) chain—the wording being that of the latter two—from Ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, delayed the Isha prayer one night, then went out to the mosque and found the people waiting for the prayer. He said: 'Know that no one among the People of the Book prays this prayer.' Then this verse was revealed: {ليسوا سواء} until He reached {والله عليم بالمتقين}."

According to this, the sentence is conjoined to the sentence {يتلون}. It is also said that it is a new beginning (isti’naf), and the praise for them is due to their distinction and exclusive performance of this prayer of great importance, which the People of the Book were not honored to perform—as the Hadith explicitly states—nor indeed any other nation. Al-Tabarani also narrated with a hasan chain from al-Munkadir: "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, went out one night and delayed the Isha prayer until a moment or an hour of the night had passed, and the people were waiting in the mosque. He said: 'Know that you will remain in a state of prayer as long as you wait for it.' Then he said: 'Indeed, it is a prayer that no one among the nations before you performed.'" Perhaps this is the secret behind placing this ruling before the ruling on faith. It is not a valid objection to say that recitation is only possible for them in private prayer and that there is no praise in individual prayer, nor that this contradicts the reality of the people as suggested by the two reports; this is because the recitation was not restricted to the prayer in the verse, and such a restriction would only be required if the sentence were a state from the pronoun as previously discussed, which it is not.

Expressing prayer as "prostration" (sujud) is because it is more indicative of complete humility. This is the secret behind using it in the statement of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to the one who asked him to pray for him so that he might be his companion in Paradise—because of his intense love for him and fear of the separation on the Day of Resurrection—meaning: "through much prostration." This applies in many other places as well. It is also said that it refers to the prayer between Maghrib and Isha, which is called the prayer of the heedless (salat al-ghaflah). It is also said that it refers to the prostration of recitation, or simply "humility," as in the verse: {ولله يسجد من في السموات والأرض}.

The nominal sentence was chosen to indicate continuity. The predication was repeated to strengthen the ruling and confirm it. The imperfect tense (mudari’) was chosen to indicate renewal.