Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:60

It is narrated that a group of Jews came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and asked him about the messengers in whom he believed. He replied: "I believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us..." up to his words: "...and we are Muslims to Him." When they heard the mention of Jesus (peace be upon him), they said, "We do not know of any people of a religion who have a lesser share in this world and the Hereafter than you, nor a religion worse than yours." Thus, this verse was revealed.

Regarding the phrase "and most of you are defiantly disobedient" (wa-aktharukum fāsiqūn):

• It may be read with a kasra (on the hamza of inna).
• It may be grammatically accusative (naṣb) due to a deleted verb implied by "Do you resent?" (hal tanqamūna), meaning: "And you do not resent that most of you are disobedient."
• It may be nominative (rafʿ) as an initial subject (mubtadaʾ) with a deleted predicate, meaning: "And your disobedience is established and known to you, for you know that we are upon the truth and you are upon falsehood, but the love of leadership and the acquisition of wealth do not allow you to be fair."

"That" (dhālika): This refers to the object of their resentment. A noun must be understood before it or before "from" (min), such as: "worse than those people" or "a religion worse than the curse of Allah."

"Whom Allah has cursed" (man laʿanahu Allāh):

• It is in the nominative case, as in the sentence: "He is the one whom Allah has cursed," similar to the verse: "Say, 'Shall I inform you of [what is] worse than that as penalty from Allah? [It is] that of those whom Allah has cursed...'"
• Or it is in the genitive case as a substitute (badal) for "worse."

"Reward" (mathūbah): There are various readings for this word. If you ask: "Reward is specific to good deeds, so how is it used here for evil?" I say: It is used in place of "punishment" (ʿuqūbah) in the manner of the saying: "A greeting between them was a painful blow." It is similar to the verse: "So give them tidings of a painful punishment." If you ask: "The punished ones from both groups are the Jews, so why is there a comparison?" I say: The Jews cursed the Muslims, claiming they were misguided and deserving of punishment. It was said to them: "The one whom Allah has cursed is, in reality and certainty, a worse 'reward' than the people of Islam, according to your own claims."

"And worshipped the Ṭāghūt" (wa-ʿabada al-ṭāghūt):

• This is a conjunction linked to the relative pronoun "whom" (man), as if it were said: "And he who worshipped the Ṭāghūt."
• In the reading of Ubayy, it is "and they worshipped" (wa-ʿabadū).
• It is also read as "the worshipper of the Ṭāghūt" (ʿābid al-ṭāghūt), linked to "the apes" (al-qiradah).
• Other readings include ʿābidī, ʿubbād, ʿabd, and ʿubud. These signify intensity in worship, like saying a man is ḥadhir (cautious) or faṭin (clever) to denote someone highly cautious or clever.
• It may also be read as a passive construction (ʿubida al-ṭāghūt), meaning the Ṭāghūt became worshipped instead of Allah.

If you ask: "How is it permissible for Allah to make them worshippers of the Ṭāghūt?" I say: There are two interpretations:

1. He abandoned them to their own devices until they worshipped it.
2. He judged them as such and described them by it, as in the verse: "And they made the angels, who are servants of the Most Merciful, females."

• It is said the Ṭāghūt refers to the Calf, because it was worshipped instead of Allah, and their worship of it was something Satan beautified for them, so their worship of it was worship of Satan, who is the Ṭāghūt.
• Ibn Abbas said: "They obeyed the priests; and whoever obeys anyone in disobedience to Allah has worshipped him."

"And He made from among them apes and swine":

• It is said the apes were the people of the Sabbath, and the swine were the disbelievers of the Table of Jesus.
• It is also said both transformations were of the people of the Sabbath: the youth were transformed into apes, and the elders into swine.
• It is narrated that when this was revealed, the Muslims would taunt the Jews, saying, "O brothers of apes and swine!" and they would hang their heads in shame.

"Those are worse in position": The "worse" is attributed to the "position," but it refers to the people themselves. This contains an exaggeration not found in saying "Those are worse and more astray," as it enters the realm of metonymy (kināyah), which is the sibling of metaphor (majāz). This was revealed regarding Jews who would enter upon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) feigning faith. Allah informed him of their state: that they leave his gathering just as they entered, having gained nothing from his reminders of Allah’s signs or his sermons.

"With disbelief" and "in it": These are states (ḥāl), meaning they entered as disbelievers and left as disbelievers. The particle qad is used to bring the past closer to the present, and also because the signs of hypocrisy were apparent on them, and the Messenger (ﷺ) was expecting Allah to reveal what they were hiding. Thus, the particle of expectation was used. It relates to his saying: "They said, 'We have believed,'" meaning they said that while this was their state.