Tafsir of Al Imran 3:113

"They are not all the same..."

The pronoun in "They are not" (ليسوا): Refers to the People of the Book. That is, the People of the Book are not equal.

His saying: "Among the People of the Book is a community standing [in obedience]..." This is a new statement (istīnaf) to explain his previous saying: "They are not all the same." This is similar to how his saying: "You enjoin what is right..." (3:110) serves as an explanation for his saying: "You are the best nation."

"A community standing (أمة قائمة)": Upright and just. It is derived from the expression "I straightened the stick, so it stood," meaning it became straight. They are those who accepted Islam from among them.

"They recite the verses of Allah during the night, and they prostrate": He expressed their night vigil (tahajjud) as reciting the Quran during the hours of the night along with prostration, because it is the clearest indication of what they do and the most indicative of the excellence of their state.

It has been said that this refers to the Isha prayer, because the People of the Book do not perform it. Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) delayed the Isha prayer, then went out to the mosque and found the people waiting for the prayer. He said: 'Indeed, there is no one among the followers of [other] religions who remembers Allah at this hour except you,' and he recited this verse."

"They recite" and "They believe": These are in the nominative case as two adjectives for "community" (ummah). That is: "a community standing, reciting, and believing." He described them with characteristics that were absent in the Jews:

• Reciting the verses of Allah at night.
• Believing in Allah (for their belief was not true belief, as they associated Ezra with Him and disbelieved in some scriptures and messengers while believing in others).
• Believing in the Last Day (for they described it contrary to its true nature).
• Enjoining good and forbidding evil (for they were prone to compromise/flattery).
• Hastening to good deeds (for they were sluggish and lacked desire for them).

"Hastening to good" means an excess of desire for it, because whoever desires a matter hastens to take charge of it and perform it, preferring immediacy over delay.

"And those are among the righteous": Those described with these qualities are among the righteous—those whose states have become sound in the sight of Allah, whom He is pleased with, and who have earned His praise. It is also permissible that by "the righteous," he means the Muslims.

"And they will never be denied it (the reward)": Since the description of Allah (Mighty and Majestic is He) as "Appreciative" (Shakur) came in His saying: "And Allah is Appreciative, Forbearing" (64:17), which carries the meaning of granting the full reward, He negated the opposite of that here.

If you ask: Why is the verb (denied/kufira) made transitive to two objects, when "thanking" (shukr) and "denying/disbelieving" (kufr) do not take more than one object (e.g., "thanking the blessing" or "denying it")? I reply: It implies the meaning of "deprivation." It is as if it were said: "You will never be deprived of it," meaning you will never be deprived of its reward.

It is also recited as yaf’alu (they do) and yukaffuruhu (they deny it) in both the third-person (ya) and second-person (ta) forms.

"And Allah is Knowing of the righteous": This is glad tidings for the righteous of an abundant reward, and an indication that no one succeeds in His sight except the people of piety (taqwa).