Say, "O People of the Scripture, why do you disbelieve in the verses of Allah?"

He addresses them with the title "People of the Scripture," which necessitates faith in Him and in that which confirms Him, as an exaggeration in condemning their state of denying that. The interrogation is for the purpose of rebuke and to signal their inability to offer an excuse for their disbelief; as if it were said: "Bring forth your excuse if you are able."

The "verses" are intended to mean the absolute proofs indicating the prophethood of His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the truth of his claim, among which is the Hajj and the command regarding it. Through this, the relevance of the verse to what precedes it becomes apparent.

The reason for its revelation is what Ibn Ishaq and a group reported from Zayd ibn Aslam, who said: Shamas ibn Qays, an old man who had grown ancient in the Age of Ignorance, possessing great disbelief, intense rancor toward the Muslims, and deep envy for them, passed by a group of the Prophet's (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) companions from the Aws and Khazraj in a gathering where they were talking. He was angered by what he saw of their familiarity, their unity, and the reconciliation of their relations through Islam after the enmity that had existed between them in the Age of Ignorance. He said: "The nobles of the sons of Qaylah have gathered in this land. By Allah, we have no stability with them if their leaders gather here." He ordered a young Jewish boy who was with him, saying: "Go to them, sit with them, then remind them of the day of Bu'ath and what preceded it, and recite to them some of the poetry they used to compose against one another."

The day of Bu'ath was a day when the Aws and Khazraj fought, and victory went to the Aws over the Khazraj. The boy did so, and the people began to speak, dispute, and boast until two men from the two tribes leapt up from the gathering: Aws ibn Qayzi, one of the Banu Harithah from the Aws, and Habbar ibn Sakhr, one of the Banu Salamah from the Khazraj. They exchanged words, then one said to the other: "If you wish, by Allah, we shall restore it (the conflict) now." Both parties became angry and said: "We have done so; weapons! Your appointment is the open ground of Al-Zahirah." They went out to it, and the Aws joined together, and the Khazraj joined together, based on the tribal claims they held during the Age of Ignorance.

This reached the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), so he went out to them with the Emigrants who were with him until he came to them and said: "O assembly of Muslims, remember Allah, remember Allah! Will you invoke the claims of the Age of Ignorance while I am among you, after Allah has guided you to Islam, honored you with it, severed the affairs of the Age of Ignorance from you, saved you from disbelief, and reconciled your hearts through it? Are you returning to being disbelievers as you were before?"

The people realized it was a provocation from Satan and a scheme of their enemy against them. They dropped their weapons from their hands, wept, and embraced one another. They then departed with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), listening and obeying, for Allah had extinguished for them the scheme of the enemy of Allah, Shamas. Allah revealed regarding the matter of Shamas and what he did: "Say, 'O People of the Scripture, why do you disbelieve...'" up to His, the Exalted's, saying: "And Allah is not unaware of what you do." And He revealed regarding Aws ibn Qayzi, Habbar, and those with them from their people who did what they did: "O you who have believed, if you obey..." (the verse). According to this, the "People of the Scripture" refers, in this context, to the Jews.

It is also said that it is intended to include both Jews and Christians.

"And Allah is Witness over what you do" is a circumstantial sentence, the operative agent of which is "disbelieve." It serves to intensify the rebuke, employing the explicit noun instead of the pronoun, as has been mentioned more than once. The "Witness" (al-shahid) is the All-Knowing, the All-Aware; the intensive form serves to emphasize the threat. To interpret "Witness" as "testifier" is an affectation for which there is no need. "What" (ma) refers either to their disbelief or is used in its general sense, in which their disbelief is included primarily. The meaning is: "For what reason do you disbelieve, while all of your deeds are not hidden from Him in any way, and He will recompense you for them in the most complete manner?" There is no doubt that this is something that blocks the paths of disbelief and sin for you and cuts off their origins entirely.