Ruh al-Ma'ani on Al-A'raf 7:124

Surah Al-A'raf 7:124

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ﱠ ﱡ ﱢ ﱣ ﱤ ﱥ ﱦ ﱧ

I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides; then I will surely crucify you all."

{لأقطعن أيديكم وأرجلكم من خلاف} (i.e., from each side, a limb opposite to the other, such as a hand from one side and a foot from the other). The prepositional phrase is in the position of a circumstantial qualifier (hal), meaning: "differentiated." The assertion that the particle (min) is causal, connected to the verb—meaning "due to your dissent"—is far-fetched.

{ثم لأصلبنكم أجمعين} (as a means of exposing you and making an example of you for others like you). "Crucifixion" (taslib) is derived from "al-salb," which signifies binding a person to a piece of wood or similar object. It became common to refer to the hanging of a person by a rope around their neck until they die as crucifixion, which is the customary meaning today.

I have seen in some books that the crucifixion intended by the tyrant [Pharaoh] was the binding of a person under the armpits and hanging them until they perished. According to what Ibn al-Mundhir and others recorded on the authority of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), Pharaoh was the first to institute the cutting of hands and feet. Allah the Exalted legislated it for highway robbers due to the gravity of their crime; for this reason, He, Glorified be He, designated it as a war against Allah and His Messenger.

Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:124

Ruh al-Ma'ani