Surah Al Imran 3:65
ﱻ ﱼ ﱽ ﱾ ﱿ ﲀ ﲁ ﲂ ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ
O People of the Scripture, why do you argue about Abraham while the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Then will you not reason?
Tafsir of Al Imran 3:64-68
Tafsir
Al-Kashshaf
Verse range: 3:64-68
**"O People of the Scripture"** It is said: they are the people of the two scriptures (Torah and Gospel). It is also said: the delegation of Najran. It is also said: the Jews of Medina.
**"A word common between us and you"** Meaning: a word that is equal between us and you, in which the Quran, the Torah, and the Gospel do not differ. The interpretation of this "word" is His saying:
**"That we worship none but Allah and associate nothing with Him and do not take one another as lords instead of Allah"** Meaning: Come to this, so that we do not say "Ezra is the son of God" nor "the Messiah is the son of God," for each of them is a human being like us. And so that we do not obey our rabbis in what they have innovated regarding prohibition and permission without referring back to what Allah has legislated, as in His saying: *"They took their rabbis and monks as lords besides Allah, and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God"* (At-Tawbah: 31).
Regarding this, 'Adi ibn Hatim said: "We did not worship them, O Messenger of Allah." He replied: "Did they not make lawful for you what was forbidden, and you took their word for it?" He said: "Yes." He said: "That is it."
Al-Fudayl said: "I do not care if I obey a created being in disobedience to the Creator, or if I pray toward a direction other than the Qibla."
Note: It is recited as kalimat (with a quiescent lam). Al-Hasan recited sawa'an in the accusative case, meaning "it has been made equal."
**"But if they turn away"** From monotheism.
**"Then say, 'Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Allah].'"** Meaning: The argument has been established against you, so it is incumbent upon you to acknowledge and submit to the fact that we are Muslims, unlike you. Just as a victor says to the vanquished in a debate, struggle, or otherwise: "Acknowledge that I am the victor and submit the victory to me." It is also possible that this is a form of irony, meaning: "Bear witness and acknowledge that you are disbelievers, since you turned away from the truth after it became manifest."
Each group—the Jews and the Christians—claimed that Abraham was one of them and argued with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the believers about him. It was said to them: Judaism only came into existence after the revelation of the Torah, and Christianity after the revelation of the Gospel. Between Abraham and Moses there were a thousand years, and between him and Jesus there were two thousand. How, then, could Abraham be upon a religion that did not come into existence until long after his time?
**"Then will you not reason?"** So that you do not engage in such impossible arguments.
**"Here you are—"** *Ha* is for alerting; *antum* is the subject (*mubtada'*), and *ha'ula'* is the predicate.
**"arguing"** A new sentence explaining the first. Meaning: You are these foolish people, and the proof of your foolishness and lack of reason is that you argue...
**"about that of which you have knowledge"** From what the Torah and the Gospel have spoken.
**"Why then do you argue about that of which you have no knowledge?"** And which has no mention in your two books regarding the religion of Abraham.
Al-Akhfash said: Ha antum is actually A-antum (an interrogative), where the hamza was changed into a ha. The meaning of the interrogation is astonishment at their foolishness. It is also said that ha'ula' means "those who," and hajajtum is its relative clause.