| Al 'Imran: (78) And indeed, among them is a party...

This verse indicates clearly that the preceding verse was revealed concerning the Jews.

This verse is connected to what precedes it, which necessitates that the previous verse was also revealed concerning the Jews.

Know that "to twist/pervert" (لَيّ - layy) is an expression for turning something away from straightness toward crookedness. It is said, "He twisted his arm" (لويت يده). An object is twisted (التوى) when it inclines. So-and-so twisted himself (التوى فلان) when he changed his disposition from straightness to its opposite. And he twisted his tongue away from something (لوى لسانه عن كذا) when he changed it. And he twisted someone away from his opinion (لوى فلانا عن رأيه) when he inclined him away from it. In the Hadith: "The delay of a wealthy person [in paying a debt] is oppression" (لي الواجد ظلم). And the Almighty said: {...twisting their tongues in utterance, seeking to make you think it is from the Book, while it is not from the Book...} (An-Nisa: 46).

Having established this principle, there are several interpretations for the verse:

The First View: Al-Qaffal (may Allah have mercy on him) said: His statement, {twisting their tongues with the Book} (يلوون ألسنتهم بالكتاب) means they intentionally alter the grammatical case endings (حركات الإعراب) of the words, a distortion that changes the meaning. This is common in the Arabic language, so it is not unlikely in Hebrew. When they did this to the verses in the Torah that indicated the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him), this was the intended meaning of the Almighty's statement, {twisting their tongues}. This interpretation is excellent.

The Second View: It is narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The group of people whom Allah will not speak to or look at on the Day of Resurrection wrote a book in which they confused the description of Muhammad (PBUH) and mixed it with the book that contained the description of Muhammad (PBUH), and then they said, {This is from Allah}.

If you understand this, we say: Twisting the tongue (لي اللسان) involves affectation, pedantry, and artificiality, which is blameworthy. Therefore, Allah (Exalted is He) used the expression of twisting the tongue to describe their recitation of that false book as a condemnation and a fault, rather than using the expression of recitation. The Arabs differentiate between terms of praise and blame for the same thing; they say for praise: an eloquent speaker (خطيب مصقع), and for blame: excessively talkative (مكثار ثرثار).

Thus, His statement {And indeed, among them is a party who twist their tongues with the Book} refers to the recitation of that false book, which is what Allah (Exalted is He) mentioned in His statement: {So woe to those who write the Book with their own hands and then say, "This is from Allah"} (Al-Baqarah: 79). Then He said: {while it is not from the Book}—meaning it is not the true Book revealed from Allah. Two questions remain here:

The First Question: To what does the pronoun in {that you might think it is from the Book} (لتحسبوه من الكتاب) refer?

Answer: It refers to what is indicated by {twisting their tongues}, which is the distorted text.

The Second Question: How is it possible to introduce distortion into the Torah, given its great fame among people?

Answer: Perhaps this action originated from a small group, among whom collusion in distortion is possible. Then, they presented this distorted text to some of the common folk. Under this assumption, this distortion is possible.

However, the soundest interpretation for me regarding the verse is another view: The verses indicating the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH) required careful consideration and deep reflection. The people [the Jews] would raise confusing questions and obscure objections against them, causing those proofs to become ambiguous to the listeners. The Jews would then claim: "The meaning intended by Allah in these verses is what we mentioned, not what you mentioned." This was the meaning of distortion and the twisting of tongues. This is similar to how, in our time, if a proponent of truth uses a verse from the Book of Allah as evidence, the opponent raises questions and doubts, saying: "The meaning intended by Allah is not what you mentioned." So it was in this situation.

Then the Almighty said: {And they say it is from Allah}. Know that some people said there is no difference between His statement {that you might think it is from the Book, while it is not from the Book} and His statement {And they say it is from Allah, while it is not from Allah} (Al 'Imran: 78). They repeated this statement with two different words for emphasis.

However, the verified scholars said that a distinction exists. This is because not everything that is not in the Book is necessarily not from Allah. For a legal ruling (الحكم الشرعي) is established sometimes by the Book, sometimes by the Sunnah, sometimes by consensus (الإجماع), and sometimes by analogy (القياس), and all of these are from Allah.

Therefore, His statement {that you might think it is from the Book, while it is not from the Book} is a specific negation. Then a general negation was added: {And they say it is from Allah, while it is not from Allah}.

Furthermore, it is possible that "the Book" (الكتاب) refers to the Torah, and their saying "it is from Allah" means it is found in the books of other Prophets (peace be upon them), such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk. This is because the people were confused regarding attributing distortion to Allah. If they found ignorant and simple people unfamiliar with the Torah, they attributed the distortion to the Torah itself. If they found intelligent and astute people, they claimed it was found in the books of the Prophets who came after Moses (peace be upon him).

Al-Jubba'i and Al-Ka'bi used this as an argument that the actions of the servant are not created by Allah. They said: If the twisting of the tongue with distortion and falsehood were a creation of Allah, then the Jews would be truthful in their claim that it is from Allah, and Allah's statement that it is not from Allah would become a lie. This is because they attributed to Allah what is from Him, while Allah negates from Himself what is from Him. Then he said: It is enough shame for a people to consider the Jews more truthful than Allah!

Someone might say: There is no difference between His statement {that you might think it is from the Book, while it is not from the Book} and {And they say it is from Allah, while it is not from Allah}. If there is no difference, then the conjunction (العطف) is not appropriate.

Al-Ka'bi answered this question in two other ways:

1. The fact that a creation is from the Creator is stronger than the fact that a commanded matter is from the Commander. It is preferable to interpret the speech based on the stronger meaning.
2. His statement {while it is not from Allah} is an absolute negation of it being from Allah, which negates it being from Him in any way, so it must not be from Him, neither by creation nor by decree (الحكم).

The Answer: As for Al-Jubba'i's statement that if we interpret {And they say it is from Allah} as the word of Allah, repetition would result: Our answer is what we mentioned: His statement {while it is not from the Book} means it is not present in the Torah. This does not prevent it from being a decree of Allah established by the Messenger's statement or by another means. When He said {while it is not from Allah}, the negation of it being a decree of Allah was established. Based on this interpretation, the repetition is removed.

As for the first of Al-Ka'bi's two points: The answer must correspond to the question. The people were not claiming that what they mentioned and did was created by Allah; rather, they were claiming it was a decree of Allah revealed in His Book. Therefore, {while it is not from Allah} must refer to this meaning and nothing else. By this path, the error in what he mentioned in the second point becomes clear. And Allah knows best.

Then the Almighty said: {And they attribute falsehood to Allah while they know}. This means they intentionally commit that lie while possessing knowledge.

Know that if the intended meaning of the distortion was altering the words of the Torah and their grammatical cases, then those who committed it must have been a small group, among whom collusion in falsehood is possible. If the intended meaning was confusing the indication of those verses regarding the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH) by casting doubts and ambiguities upon the means of evidence, then the agreement of many people upon this is not unlikely. And Allah knows best.

7 < { It is not for a human being that Allah should give him the Book and authority and prophethood and then he would say to the people, "Be my servants rather than Allah." Rather, [he would say], "Be Rabbaniyyun [devoted to the Lord], because you were teaching the Book and because you were studying [it]." *Nor would he order you to take the angels and the prophets as lords. Would he order you to disbelieve after you have submitted [as Muslims]?} > 7

<