Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:130-131

"And who would turn away from..."

"And who would turn away" This is a rhetorical denial and an expression of impossibility that any rational person would turn away from the clear truth, which is the creed of Abraham.

"Except one who fools himself" The word man (who) is in the nominative case as a substitute (badal) for the pronoun in yarghabu (turns away). This substitution is valid because the interrogative yarghabu functions like a negative, similar to saying: "Has anyone come to you except Zayd?"

"Fools himself" Meaning: he has debased and belittled his own soul. The root of safah (foolishness) is lightness; from this comes the term zimam safih (a loose/unsteady rein).

It is also said that nafsahu (his soul) is in the accusative as a specifier (tamyiz), similar to saying "he was cheated in his opinion" or "his head ached." It is also possible that it is a rare instance of a definite specifier, as in the poetry: "And not by Fazara, the necks of the hair..." "The back of the camel has no hump..."

Another view is that it means "he acted foolishly in his soul," where the preposition is omitted, as in the saying "Zayd is my opinion, he is staying," meaning "in my opinion." The first interpretation is the most sound, supported by the Hadith: "Arrogance is to belittle the truth and look down upon people."

Thus, when one turns away from that which no rational person would ever turn away from, he has gone to the extreme in debasing and incapacitating his own soul, as he has opposed every rational soul.

"And We chose him" This is an explanation of the error in the opinion of those who turn away from his creed. For whoever gathers honor before Allah in both abodes—by being His chosen and elite in this world, and being testified to as having remained steadfast upon goodness in the Hereafter—no one is more worthy of following his path than he.

"When He said to him: Submit" This is an adverbial phrase for "We chose him," meaning: We chose him at that time. Or, it is in the accusative due to an implied "Remember," as a testimony to the state mentioned regarding him. It is as if it were said: "Remember that time, so that you may know he is the chosen, righteous one, from whose creed no one should turn away."

The meaning of "He said to him: Submit" is: "Bring to your mind the contemplation of the proofs that lead to knowledge and submission."

"He said: I have submitted" Meaning: He contemplated and attained knowledge. It is also said that "submit" means to yield and obey.

It is narrated that Abdullah ibn Salam called his two nephews, Salamah and Muhajir, to Islam and said to them: "We know that Allah the Exalted said in the Torah: 'I will raise a Prophet from the descendants of Ishmael named Ahmad; whoever believes in him is guided and rightly directed, and whoever does not believe in him is cursed.'"

Salamah submitted, but Muhajir refused to submit, and so the verse was revealed: "And Abraham instructed his sons [to do the same] and [so did] Jacob, 'O my sons, indeed Allah has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except while you are Muslims.'"