Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:58

"And when you call"—that is, when some of you call others—(to prayer, they take it)—meaning the prayer or the act of calling to it—(as a mockery and amusement). Al-Bayhaqi recorded in al-Dala’il, via the chain of al-Kalbi from Abu Salih, from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: "When the caller of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would call to prayer and the Muslims would rise for it, the Jews would say, 'They have risen, may they never rise.' When they saw them bowing and prostrating, they would mock them and laugh at them." Ibn Jarir and others recorded from al-Suddi that he said: "There was a Christian man in Medina who, when he heard the caller say, 'I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,' would say, 'May the liar be burned.' One night, his servant entered with fire while he and his family were sleeping; a spark fell, igniting the house and burning him and his family." This discourse is presented to illustrate their mockery of a specific ruling of the religion, following the description of their mockery of the religion in its entirety, in order to display the extent of their wretchedness. "(That is)"—meaning this taking of the prayer as mockery—(because they are a people who do not reason.)

For folly leads to ignorance of the virtues of the Truth and to mocking it; had they possessed any intellect at all, they would not have dared to commit such a grave offense. It has been said: The verse contains proof of the validity of the Adhan (call to prayer) by the text of the Book, not by the dream alone. This has been objected to, on the grounds that His saying, "And when you call," does not explicitly denote the Adhan. However, it may be argued: since it was revealed after the Adhan had already been established, it serves as an allusion to it, thus functioning as an affirmation of it.

It is stated in al-Kashf: I say regarding this that taking the call to prayer as a mockery is an abominable act, and it is among the recognized practices of the Sharia. From this perspective, it indicates that the calling they practiced was a rightful, legislated act from Allah, which is the intended meaning of its validity by the text, after it had been established initially by the Sunnah and the dream of Abdullah ibn Zayd al-Ansari (the hadith in its entirety). The fact that this occurred early after the migration to Medina, while the Surah of al-Ma’idah was among the last of the Quran to be revealed, does not contradict this. His saying, "not by the dream alone," does not imply that the Sunnah is insufficient for establishing evidence, because the legal proofs are indicators and signs, not independent causes or necessary requirements; the accumulation of indicators is not denied. This concludes the point. Abu Hayyan has a discussion in this place that should be disregarded due to its manifest stubbornness. The Adhan is termed "calling" (munada) because of the caller's words within it: "Come to prayer, come to success."