ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ ﲶ ﲷ ﲸ ﲹ ﲺ ﲻ ﲼ ﲽ
And [for] their taking of usury while they had been forbidden from it, and their consuming of the people's wealth unjustly. And we have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.
Tafsir
Verse range: 4:160-162
"So for wrongdoing on the part of those who are Jews..."
"So for what wrongdoing of theirs?" The meaning is: We did not forbid them the good things except for a grave injustice they committed, which is what He enumerated for them of disbelief and major sins.
The "good things" that were forbidden to them are what He mentioned in His saying: "And to those who are Jews, We prohibited every animal with undivided hoof" (Al-An'am: 146). Also, fats were forbidden to them, and whenever they committed a sin—small or large—some good things in food and other matters were forbidden to them.
"And for their averting many from the way of Allah" Meaning: Averting many people, or a frequent averting.
"By falsehood" Meaning: By the bribes they used to take from their commoners to distort the Scripture.
"But those firm in knowledge..." He means those among them who believed, such as Abdullah ibn Salam and his peers. "Those firm in knowledge" are those established in it, proficient and insightful.
"And the believers" Meaning: The believers among them, or the believers from the Emigrants (Muhajirun) and the Helpers (Ansar).
"Those firm in knowledge" is in the nominative case (marfu') as an initial subject (mubtada'), and "believe" is its predicate.
"And those who establish prayer" It is in the accusative case (nasb) as a form of praise, to demonstrate the excellence of prayer. This is a broad subject, and Sibawayh has analyzed it with examples and evidence. One should not pay heed to those who claim it is a grammatical error (lahn) in the script of the Mushaf. Perhaps such a claim is made by one who has not studied the Book, does not know the ways of the Arabs, and is unaware of their ingenuity in using the accusative case for the purpose of specification (al-ikhtisas). It is hidden from them that the foremost predecessors—whose description is in the Torah and the Gospel—were far too zealous in their protection of Islam and in defending it against criticism to leave a gap in the Book of Allah for those after them to fill, or a tear for those who followed them to mend.
It is also said that it is a conjunction linked to "they believe."
"In what was revealed to you" Meaning: They believe in the Book, and in those who establish prayer—who are the Prophets.
In the Mushaf of Abdullah [ibn Mas'ud], it is written "and those who establish" (al-muqimun) with a waw (nominative). This is also the reading of Malik ibn Dinar, al-Jahdari, and Isa al-Thaqafi.
