Al-Ma'idah: (59) Say, "O People of the Scripture..."
Al-Hasan read: (Hal tanqamūna) with a fatḥah on the qāf, while the eloquent reading is with a kasrah.
The meaning: Do you find fault with us and disapprove of anything other than our belief in all the revealed scriptures?
"And [that] most of you are defiantly disobedient."
If you ask: Upon what is the phrase "And most of you are defiantly disobedient" conjoined?
I say: There are several aspects to this:
- Conjoined to "that we have believed" (an āmannā): It means: "You find no fault in us except for the combination of our belief and your rebellion and departure from faith." It is as if it were said: "You disapprove of nothing in us except our opposition to you, as we have entered the religion of Islam while you have remained outside of it."
- Ellipsis of the genitive: It is permissible that there is an omitted noun, meaning: "And the belief that you are defiantly disobedient."
- Conjoined to the genitive: It means: "You find no fault in us except for belief in Allah, and in what was revealed, and [in the fact] that most of you are defiantly disobedient."
- The wāw as "with" (ma‘a): It means: "You find no fault in us except for our belief, along with the fact that most of you are defiantly disobedient."
- Causal conjunction: It may be a causal clause conjoined to an omitted causal clause. It is as if it were said: "You find no fault in us except for our belief, [and this is] due to your lack of fairness, your disobedience, and your following of desires."
Evidence for this: Al-Hasan’s interpretation: "Because of your disobedience, you have found fault with us for that."
