Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:44

"Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Book?" This is a new commencement intended to evoke astonishment in the believers regarding the wretchedness of their condition and to warn against taking them as allies, following the mention of various religious obligations and legal rulings. The address is directed to every believer capable of "seeing," which signals the absolute notoriety and repulsive nature of their state. Some have said it is addressed to the Master of those addressed, may Allah the Exalted grant him peace and blessings, and addressing the leader of a people is equivalent to addressing them all.

"Seeing" (ru'ya) here is visual, and its being transitive through "to" (ila) treats it as looking (nazar), meaning: "Have you not looked at them?" It is also said to be intellectual, with its transitiveness through "to" implying the meaning of reaching a conclusion, i.e., "Has your knowledge not reached them?" This is lowered into a position of astonishment and the public exposure of their ignoble deeds, arranging them alongside things that are physically observed.

The intended subjects of "those" are the Jews of Medina. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with both of them—that this was revealed regarding Rifa'ah ibn Zayd and Malik ibn Dakhsham; whenever the Messenger of Allah, may Allah the Exalted grant him peace and blessings, would speak, they would twist their tongues and revile him. It is also said that it was revealed regarding two rabbis who would visit Abdullah ibn Ubayy and his gang to discourage them from Islam.

The "Book" refers to the Torah. Others say it refers to the genus of Scripture, which would include it primarily, though this would lengthen the distance of the meaning. Still others say it refers to the Quran, because the Jews knew it was a Book of truth brought by a truthful Prophet, regarding whose prophethood there was no doubt—though this is contrary to the apparent meaning.

"With that which they were given" refers to what was made clear to them therein of rulings and knowledge, among which is what they knew of the description of the Prophet, may Allah the Exalted grant him peace and blessings. Expressing it as a "portion" indicates that it is a right of theirs which ought to have been observed and maintained, serving to signal the flimsiness of their opinions in neglecting it. The indefinite noun (tanwin) is for magnification, which supports the condemnation; the same applies if it were taken to imply abundance. The word "of" (min) is connected to an implied word acting as an adjective for "portion," explaining its additive majesty following its intrinsic majesty. Others say it is connected to "were given."

His saying: "They purchase error" is a new commencement clarifying the grounds for the condemnation and the pivot of the astonishment understood from the beginning of the discourse. It is based on a question arising from it, as if it were said: "What do they do that they should be looked at [with such astonishment]?" It is then said: "They choose error over guidance," or they substitute it for it after having attained the ability to possess it—the former being treated as equivalent to the latter, or because they actually attained it by denying the prophethood of Muhammad, may Allah the Exalted grant him peace and blessings.

Al-Zajjaj said: The meaning is that they take bribes and distort the Torah; "error" is this distortion, meaning they purchased it with the money of bribes. Abu al-Baqa' went to the view that the sentence "they purchase" is a state (hal) expected from the pronoun in "were given," or a state from "those." The first view is countered by the fact that there is no doubt that estimating their purchase mentioned within the "giving" is not appropriate for the context. The second view is countered by the fact that it fails to convey that the substance of the condemnation and astonishment is the aforementioned purchase and what is conjoined to it from His saying: "And they wish that you should lose the way."

Thus, the most sound views are that it is a new commencement, and what is conjoined is a partner to that which it is conjoined to in what preceded it. The meaning is that they are not content with their own error; rather, by what they have done—denying the Prophet, may Allah the Exalted grant him peace and blessings, and concealing his descriptions which the Torah explicitly states—they wish for you, too, to lose the straight path that leads to the truth. The use of the present tense in both instances is to signal continuous renewal, for the recurrence of the ruling of their purchase and the repetition of acting according to its requirements is equivalent to its renewal and repetition. In this, there is also a condemnation that is not hidden. It has been recited as "that they might cause to lose" (an yudillu), with a ya, with the dad being both fatha-vowelled and kasra-vowelled.