Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:50

His saying, may He be glorified: "Do they then seek the judgment of the Age of Ignorance?" is an expression of denial and astonishment at their state, as well as a rebuke to them. The Fa (then) is for conjunction with an implied [verb] required by the context—meaning: they turn away from accepting your judgment concerning what Allah the Exalted has revealed to you, and thus they seek the judgment of the Age of Ignorance. It is said that the position of the Hamza is after the Fa, but it was moved forward because it possesses [the property of] precedence.

The fronting of the object is for the sake of specialization, which serves to emphasize the denial and astonishment, for turning away from the judgment of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and seeking another judgment is a rejected and astonishing act, and seeking the judgment of the Age of Ignorance is even uglier and more astonishing.

"Al-Jahiliyyah" (the Age of Ignorance) refers to the creed of ignorance, which is the following of whims that necessitate bias and hypocrisy in judgments, or it refers to the ignorant nation. Their judgment was what they adhered to regarding the disparity in compensation for the slain. It is also said that the discourse contains an omitted genitive noun, meaning: the people of the Age of Ignorance. Their judgment was what has been mentioned; for it is narrated that when the Banu Nadir sought judgment from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) regarding a dispute over a killing that occurred between them and the Banu Qurayza, some of them requested that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) judge between them according to the disparity they held during the Age of Ignorance. He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The slain are equal [in worth]." The Banu Nadir said: "We do not consent to that," and so this [verse] was revealed.

Ibn 'Amir read tabghun (you seek) with a Ta, either as an act of turning the address [from third to second person] to emphasize the rebuke, or by estimating an implied verb, meaning: "Say to them: Do they seek... etc." Ibn Wathab, al-A'raj, Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, and others read Afahukma (a judgment) in the nominative case (Raf'), as a subject whose predicate is yabghun (they seek), with the referential pronoun being omitted. It is also said that the predicate is omitted and the mentioned [noun] is its descriptor, meaning: "Is there a judgment they seek?" The omission of the referential pronoun from the predicate is considered weak, although Ibn Jinni mentioned that such omission occurs in it just as it occurs in a relative clause or an adjective, such as his saying: "Umm al-Khiyar has become claimed against me for a sin, all of which I did not commit." Abu Hayyan said that the omission in the verse is made elegant by the resemblance of yabghun to the end of a verse, making it appear as a correspondence. He claimed that the aforementioned reading is an error—an error [itself], as is not hidden.

Qatadah read Afahakaman (is it a judge) with a Fatha on the Fa, Ha, and Kaf, meaning: "Do they seek a judge like the judges of the Age of Ignorance?" The Age of Ignorance was called by that name because of [the state of] ignorance, as Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from 'Urwah: "A woman came and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, in the Age of Ignorance it was such and such,' and so Allah the Exalted revealed the mention of the Age of Ignorance and judged them by this title."

"And who is better than Allah in judgment..." This is a denial that anyone’s judgment could be better than the judgment of Allah the Exalted, or equal to it, as the usage indicates—even if the outward structure does not explicitly address the negation of equality.

"...for a people who have certainty." Meaning: [it is so] for a people; thus the Lam is in the sense of "for" (or "at"). Al-Juba'i held this view, though it was weakened in al-Durr al-Masun. It was verified that it is for the purpose of clarification, connected to an implied verb as in "here it is for you" (hayta laka) and "a drink for you" (suqyan laka), meaning: the essence of this interrogative denial is clarified and manifest to a people who deliberate on affairs and verify things with their own insights. As for others, they do not know that there is no better judge than Allah the Exalted. Perhaps the one who interpreted it as "for" meant to clarify the gist of the meaning. It is also said that the Lam remains in its original meaning and is a connection, meaning: the judgment of Allah the Exalted for the believers against the disbelievers is the best of judgments and the most just of them. This sentence is a circumstantial clause establishing the meaning of the previous denial.