ﲞ ﲟ ﲠ ﲡ ﲢ ﲣ ﲤ ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ ﲶ ﲷ
O you who have believed, do not ask about things which, if they are shown to you, will distress you. But if you ask about them while the Qur'an is being revealed, they will be shown to you. Allah has pardoned that which is past; and Allah is Forgiving and Forbearing.
Tafsir
Verse range: 5:101
"O you who have believed, do not ask about things..."
The conditional sentence and the one conjoined to it—meaning his saying, "Do not ask about things"—is a description of "things." The meaning is: Do not persist in questioning the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) until you ask him about obligations that are burdensome to you. If he were to issue a legal ruling (fatwa) for you regarding them and obligate you with them, it would distress you, burden you, and cause you to regret having asked.
This is similar to what has been narrated: Suraqah bin Malik or 'Ukkashah bin Mihsan said, "O Messenger of Allah, is Hajj [required] of us every year?" The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) turned away from him until he repeated his question three times. Then he (ﷺ) said:
"Woe to you! What makes you feel secure that I would not say 'Yes'? By Allah, if I had said 'Yes,' it would have become mandatory. If it had become mandatory, you would not have been able to fulfill it, and if you had abandoned it, you would have disbelieved. So leave me as I have left you; for those before you were only destroyed by their excessive questioning and their disagreement with their prophets. If I command you to do something, perform as much of it as you are able, and if I forbid you from something, then avoid it."
"...if they are shown to you, they will distress you. And if you ask about them while the Qur'an is being revealed..."
If you ask about these difficult obligations during the time of revelation—that is, as long as the Messenger is among you and receiving revelation—they will be shown to you. Those difficult obligations that distress you will be made manifest, and you will be commanded to bear them, thereby exposing yourselves to the wrath of Allah by failing to fulfill them.
"...Allah has pardoned that which is past..."
Allah has pardoned your previous questioning, so do not return to the likes of it.
"...and Allah is Forgiving, Forbearing."
He treats you with forbearance regarding what you commit out of negligence, rather than punishing you.
If you ask: How can He say, "Do not ask about things," and then say, "A people before you had asked them [the same]," without saying "asked about them"?
I reply: The pronoun in "asked them" (sa'aluha) does not refer back to "things" such that it would require the preposition 'an (about). Rather, it refers back to the act of "questioning" (mas'alah) which is indicated by the phrase "Do not ask." It means: A people among those who came before have already asked this question.
"...then they became, because of them, disbelievers."
That is, because of the answers to those questions, or because of the questions themselves. The Children of Israel used to seek legal rulings from their prophets regarding matters, and when they were commanded to do them, they abandoned them and were thus destroyed.
