Tafsir of Al Imran 3:181

"Allah has heard..."

The Jews said this when they heard the saying of Allah Almighty: "Who is it that will lend Allah a goodly loan?"

Whether they said it out of genuine belief or in mockery of the Qur’an, in either case, it is a grave statement that could only proceed from those who are rebellious in their disbelief.

"The meaning of Allah hearing it..."

It means that it was not hidden from Him, and that He has prepared for it a commensurate punishment.

"We shall record what they said..."

In the scrolls of the recording angels, or We shall preserve it and fix it in Our knowledge so that We do not forget it, just as a written record is fixed.

"If you ask: How did He say 'Allah has heard' and then say 'We shall record,' and why was it not said 'And We have already recorded?'"

I say: He mentioned the occurrence of the hearing first, emphasized by an oath, then said "We shall record" by way of a threat—meaning that the recording and documenting of it will never escape Us, just as the killing of the prophets by them will not escape Us.

He paired their killing of the prophets with this statement to signal that they are siblings in gravity, that this is not the first of the heinous acts they have committed, that they are rooted in disbelief with a long history of it, and that one who kills prophets is not above daring to make such a statement.

"It is narrated..."

That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent a letter with Abu Bakr (ra) to the Jews of Banu Qaynuqa, inviting them to Islam, the establishment of prayer, the giving of Zakat, and to lend Allah a goodly loan. The Jew Finhas said, "Allah is poor, since He asks us for a loan." Abu Bakr slapped him in the face and said, "Were it not for the covenant between us and you, I would have struck off your head." He complained to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and denied what he had said, so this verse was revealed.

Similar to this is their saying: "The hand of Allah is shackled" (Al-Ma'idah).

"And We shall say..."

To them: "Taste..."

We shall take vengeance upon them by saying to them on the Day of Resurrection: "The punishment of the burning fire."

Just as you made the Muslims taste anguish. It is said to the one being punished: "Feel and taste." Abu Sufyan said to Hamza (ra): "Taste, O disobedient one."

• Hamza read sayaktubu (He shall write) with a ya in the passive voice, and wa-yaqulu (and He shall say) with a ya.
• Al-Hasan and Al-A'raj read sayaktubu with a ya in the active voice.
• Ibn Mas'ud read wa-yuqalu dhuqu (And it shall be said: Taste).

"That..."

Is a reference to what preceded of their punishment. The mention of "hands" is because most actions are performed with them, so every action is treated as if it were performed by the hands, by way of generalization.

"If you ask: Why did He connect His saying 'And that Allah is not ever unjust to His servants' to 'what your hands have sent forth,' and how is His being 'not unjust to His servants' a partner to their committing of evil deeds in deserving punishment?"

I say: The meaning of His being "not unjust to His servants" is that He is just toward them, and it is of justice that He punishes the evildoer among them and rewards the doer of good.