Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:105

"Indeed, We have revealed to you..."

It is narrated: That Tu‘mah ibn Ubayriq, one of the Banu Zafar, stole a coat of mail from his neighbor, Qatadah ibn al-Nu‘man, inside a sack of flour. The flour began to scatter from a hole in the sack, and he hid the mail with Zayd ibn al-Samin, a man from the Jews.

The mail was sought from Tu‘mah, but it was not found. He swore he had not taken it and had no knowledge of it, so they left him alone. They followed the trail of flour until it ended at the house of the Jew, where they seized it. The Jew said, "Tu‘mah gave it to me," and a group of Jews testified on his behalf.

The Banu Zafar said, "Let us go to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and ask him to argue on behalf of our companion." They said, "If you do not, he will be ruined and disgraced, and the Jew will be exonerated." The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) intended to do so and to punish the Jew.

It is said he intended to cut off his [the Jew's] hand, so this [verse] was revealed.

Al-Tha‘labi mentioned this from the narration of Abu Salih, from al-Kalbi, from Ibn ‘Abbas, and al-Wahidi transmitted it in [his book on] the causes [of revelation] from the exegetes.

It is narrated that Tu‘mah fled to Mecca and apostatized. He tunneled through a wall in Mecca to steal from its inhabitants, but the wall collapsed upon him and killed him.

"By that which Allah has shown you" By that which He has made known to you and revealed to you.

From ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): "Let none of you say, 'I have judged by that which Allah has shown me,' for Allah did not grant that except to His Prophet (ﷺ). Rather, let him exert his own opinion, for the opinion of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was always correct because Allah would show it to him, whereas for us, it is mere conjecture and effort."

"And do not be an advocate for the treacherous" Do not be a disputant against the innocent on behalf of the treacherous. This means: Do not argue for the Jews on behalf of the Banu Zafar.

"And seek forgiveness of Allah" For that which you intended regarding the punishment of the Jew.