Al-Baqarah: (145) And if you were to bring...

Know that after Allah the Exalted clarified in the first verse that the People of the Book know this Qibla is the truth, He then clarified their characteristic of unyielding persistence in obstinacy. This verse contains several issues:

Issue 1: The Meaning of "And if you were to bring to those who were given the Scripture"

There is a difference of opinion regarding the meaning of this phrase:

Opinion 1: It refers only to their scholars. Al-Asamm held this view, arguing that the reference is to the scholars mentioned in the preceding verse: "And indeed, those who were given the Scripture know that it is the truth from their Lord" (Al-Baqarah: 144). His arguments are:

1. The phrase "and if you were to follow their desires" (ولئن اتبعت أهواءهم): This describes them as followers of desire. Whoever believes falsehood to be truth does not follow personal desire; rather, they believe they are following guidance. Those who know the truth in their hearts but deny it with their tongues are the ones who follow desire.
2. Contextual Consistency: The verse preceding this one (mentioning their knowledge that it is the truth) and the verse following it (mentioning their recognition of the Prophet as they recognize their sons, referring to Al-An'am: 20) both specifically address the scholars. Since the surrounding verses are specific, this intermediate verse should also be specific.
3. Persistence in Error: Allah informed that they are resolute in their claims and persistent in their falsehood, refusing to retract their doctrine based on any proof or sign. This is the characteristic of stubborn opposition, not mere confusion.
4. Contradiction with Reality: If this were interpreted generally (to include all People of the Book), the verse would be a lie, as many among the People of the Book believed in the Prophet (PBUH) and followed his Qibla.

Opinion 2: It refers to all People of the Book (Jews and Christians). Their arguments are:

1. General Terminology: The phrase "those who were given the Scripture" (الذين أوتوا الكتاب) is a general formulation that encompasses everyone.
2. Rebuttal to Argument 1 (Desire): The one holding a misconception is truly following desire because they did not complete their reflection and deduction. If they had completed it, they would have reached the truth. Their failure to do so indicates they abandoned complete reflection due to mere desire.
3. Rebuttal to Argument 2 (Specificity): It is not impossible for the first verse to refer to some of them while the second refers to all of them.
4. Rebuttal to Argument 3 (Persistence): Since the scholars are resolute in their doubts, and the common folk are resolute in following those scholars, persistence is present in everyone.
5. Rebuttal to Argument 4 (Contradiction): Allah informed that none of them would believe, which is different from saying not a single one of them believes.

Issue 2: Ka'bi's Argument on Divine Grace

Al-Ka'bi used this verse to argue for the permissibility of not providing grace (luṭf) for some individuals. He argued that if grace were provided to them within the realm of possibility, there would be signs/proofs that, if brought to them, would cause them to believe. In that case, this statement (that they would not believe) could not be definitively true.

Issue 3: Abu Muslim's Argument on Divine Knowledge and Our Argument on Accountability

Abu Muslim used this verse to argue that Allah's knowledge of His servants' actions is not an excuse for their deeds, as they are capable of doing the good commanded and leaving the opposite forbidden.

Our scholars (Ahl al-Haqq) used it to argue against accountability for the impossible (taklīf mā lā yuṭāq). They argue: Allah informed that they would not follow the Qibla. If they did follow the Qibla, Allah's truthful report would become a lie, and His knowledge would become ignorance—which is impossible. Since the consequence is impossible, the action (following the Qibla) must also be impossible, yet they were commanded to do it. This means they were commanded the impossible. (The full discussion is found in the commentary on verse 6: "Indeed, those who disbelieve, whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe.")

Issue 4: The Reason for Their Inability to Return

Allah judged that they would not retract their falsehoods based on evidence because their turning away from accepting this religion is not due to a doubt that evidence can remove. Rather, it is pure stubbornness, contention, and envy, which cannot be removed by presenting proofs.

Issue 5: The Meaning of "They will not follow your Qibla"

There are differing views on the meaning of ما تبعوا قبلتك:

• Al-Hasan and Al-Jubba'i: They meant all of them, similar to the verse, "And if Allah had willed, He could have guided them all to the right path" (Al-An'am: 35).
• Al-Asamm and others: They meant that no one among them would believe.
• Al-Qadi: If "People of the Book" refers to all of them (scholars and common folk), then Al-Hasan's interpretation is necessary. If it refers only to the scholars addressed in this verse, we examine: if any of those scholars had believed, Al-Hasan's interpretation would be necessary. If none of them had believed, the literal meaning (negating belief for every single one) is more appropriate to the surface reading, as there is no difference between saying "They will not follow your Qibla" and "Not one of them will follow your Qibla."

Issue 6: The Grammar of "And if" (ولئن)

The particle لئن means لو (if), and it is answered by the response appropriate for لو. Scholars disagree on this interchangeability:

• Some say: Since they are close in meaning, each is used in place of the other and answered accordingly. For example, in ولئن أرسلنا ريحا (And if We sent a wind), the response is لظلوا (they would have remained), which is the response for لو. Conversely, in ولو أنهم آمنوا واتقوا (And if they had believed and feared God), the response is لمثوبة (there would have been a reward), which is the response for لئن. This is because the root meaning of لو pertains to the past, while لئن pertains to the future (Al-Akhfash).
• Sibawayh says: Each particle remains in its proper place. The reason for this intermingling in the response is that the Lām (in لئن) indicates an oath, so the response comes as the response to an oath.

Issue 7: The Etymology of "Sign" (آية)

The word آية (sign/verse) is derived from أية (weight: fa'lah). They found the doubling of the yā' heavy, so they substituted the first yā' with an alif because the preceding letter was open (voweled with fatḥa).

A sign (āyah) is proof (ḥujjah) or a mark. A person's āyah is their figure/personage. People leaving with their āyah means leaving with their group/assembly. Quranic verses are called āyāt either because they are a collection of letters, or because they mark the cessation of the speech that follows them, or because they indicate their separation from created beings, proving they are only from Allah's speech.

Issue 8: Context of Revelation

It is narrated that the Jews of Medina and the Christians of Najran asked the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) to bring a sign as previous prophets did. Allah then revealed this verse. However, the more likely view is that this verse was not revealed for a new incident but is part of the rulings concerning the change of the Qibla.

Regarding Allah's statement: "And you are not a follower of their Qibla" (وما أنت بتابع قبلتهم), there are several interpretations:

1. It serves to validate the abrogation (of the previous Qibla) and clarify that this new Qibla will not be abrogated.
2. It cuts off the hopes of the People of the Book, who had hoped that if the Prophet adhered to their Qibla, he would be the awaited Messenger they anticipate, and they hoped he would return to their Qibla.
3. Reciprocity: They will not abandon their falsehood, and you will not abandon your truth.
4. It means it is not incumbent upon you to reform them by following their Qibla, as that would be a sin.
5. You are not to follow the Qibla of all the People of the Book (Jews and Christians), because the Qibla of the Jews (Jerusalem) differs from the Qibla of the Christians (the East). Therefore, stick to your Qibla and leave their differing opinions.

Regarding Allah's statement: "And neither are some of them followers of the Qibla of others" (وما بعضهم بتابع قبلة بعض):

Al-Qaffal suggested this can be interpreted in terms of the present or the future.

Present Tense Interpretations:

1. They are not united upon a single Qibla, so appeasing them by following one Qibla is impossible.
2. The Jews and Christians, despite agreeing to deny you, differ in their Qibla. How can they ask you to abandon your Qibla when they themselves differ?
3. This refutes their claim that it is impermissible to contradict the People of the Book. If their two Qiblas could differ for the sake of expediency (maṣlaḥah), then expediency could dictate a third Qibla (the Prophet's).

Future Tense Interpretation: This presents a difficulty: the phrase denies that any of them follow the Qibla of another, but this has indeed occurred (some later groups followed others). This implies a contradiction.

Rebuttal: If we restrict "People of the Book" to the scholars of that time, we have no confirmed report that any of them followed the Qibla of another, so the contradiction is avoided. If we interpret it generally (all of them), then it is a general statement that has been specified (i.e., qualified exceptions exist).

Regarding Allah's statement: "And if you were to follow their desires" (ولئن اتبعت أهواءهم), there are two issues:

The restricted Hawā (الهوى) is what the natural disposition inclines toward. The extended Hawā' (الهواء) is well-known (air/wind).

There is a difference of opinion on who is addressed:

• Some say: The Prophet (PBUH).
• Some say: The Prophet and others.
• Others say: Only others, because Allah knew the Prophet would never do this, so it is inappropriate to single him out.

The third view is incorrect. Any action that would be reprehensible if done by the Prophet, even if Allah knew he would not do it, is still forbidden to him. Evidence for this:

1. If everything Allah knew the Prophet would not do was exempt from prohibition, then everything He knew the Prophet would do should be exempt from command. This would mean the Prophet is neither commanded nor forbidden, which is unanimously false.
2. If the Prophet were not warned and cautioned beforehand, he would not guard against it. Since this guarding is conditional upon the warning, how can the guarding negate the warning?
3. The purpose of the warning and threat is to confirm the ugliness of the act in reason. Allah has already established the proofs for monotheism in the intellect; the purpose here is to confirm the intellect through transmission (naql). This is a valid purpose.
4. Allah states regarding the angels: "And whoever of them should say, 'Indeed, I am a god besides Him,' We would recompense him with Hell" (Al-Anbiya: 29), even though He informed of their infallibility: "They fear their Lord above them and do what they are commanded" (An-Naml: 50). Similarly, He said to Muhammad (PBUH): "If you associate others with Allah, your work will surely become worthless" (Az-Zumar: 65), though consensus holds he never associated partners. He also said: "O Prophet, fear Allah and do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites" (Al-Ahzab: 1) and "They wish that you would compromise [in religion] and compromise with them" (Al-Qalam: 9), and "Proclaim what has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message" (Al-Ma'idah: 67). Thus, the Prophet (PBUH) was forbidden from this, and others are forbidden as well, as the prohibition is not exclusive to the Prophet.

Why single out the Prophet (PBUH) with the prohibition?

1. The greater the blessings upon someone, the uglier the sin committed by them. Allah's blessings upon the Prophet were the greatest, so sin from him would be the ugliest, making him most deserving of specific mention.
2. Greater love necessitates greater warning.
3. A decisive person, addressing his most upright son in front of his other children, warns him against an action. This serves to highlight the gravity of that action should the others choose to commit it. People customarily direct commands and prohibitions to the one of highest rank to serve as a warning or emphasis.

Second View on the Addressee: The phrase "if you were to follow their desires" does not mean following them in all matters. Perhaps the Prophet (PBUH) followed their desires in some matters, such as avoiding harshness in speech, hoping to win them over. Allah forbade him even that small degree, making him completely despair of them, as stated: "And had We not made you firm, you would have almost inclined to them a little" (Al-Isra: 74).

Third View on the Addressee: Although the surface address is to the Prophet, the intent is for others. This is like when you reprimand a master whose slave mistreated your slave, saying, "If you do this again, I will punish you severely." The purpose is to deter anyone in the Ummah from following or obeying them.

Regarding Allah's statement: "After the knowledge has come to you" (من بعد ما جاءك من العلم), there are two issues:

Allah does not mean the knowledge itself came to him, but rather the proofs, signs, and miracles, as these are means of knowledge. This is a case of naming the effect by the name of the cause. The purpose of this metaphor is exaggeration and glorification, as if Allah magnified the status of prophethood and miracles by naming them with the name of "Knowledge," alerting you that knowledge holds the highest rank and honor among created things.

The verse indicates that the warning directed toward scholars is more severe than that directed toward others, as indicated by the phrase "after the knowledge has come to you."

Regarding Allah's statement: "Indeed, in that case, you would be among the wrongdoers" (إنك إذا لمن الظالمين):

This means if you did that, you would be in the same position as those people in their disbelief and self-wrongdoing. The purpose is threat and deterrence. And Allah knows best.

7 < { Those to whom We gave the Scripture recognize it as they recognize their sons, and indeed, a party of them knowingly conceal the truth. * The truth is from your Lord, so never be among the doubters. } > 7

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