Tafsir of Al-Bayyinah 98:1

Classification: Meccan; it is also said to be Medinan. It contains 8 verses and was revealed after [Surah] al-Talaq.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

1. {Those who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists were not to be parted [from their ways] until there came to them the clear evidence—

2. A Messenger from Allah, reciting purified scriptures,

3. Within which are correct writings.

4. And those who were given the Scripture did not become divided until after the clear evidence had come to them.

5. And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and to give zakah. And that is the correct religion.

6. Indeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures.

7. Indeed, they who have believed and done righteous deeds—those are the best of creatures.

8. Their reward with their Lord will be gardens of perpetual residence beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever, Allah being pleased with them and they with Him. That is for whoever has feared his Lord.}

"Those who disbelieved were not..." Before the mission of the Prophet (ﷺ), the disbelievers from both groups—the People of the Book and the idolaters—used to say: "We will not depart from the religion we are upon, nor will we abandon it, until the promised Prophet, who is written in the Torah and the Gospel, is sent." This is Muhammad (ﷺ). Allah Almighty recounts what they used to say, then says:

"And those who were given the Scripture did not become divided..." This means they used to promise unity and agreement upon the truth once the Messenger came to them. Yet, nothing caused them to deviate from the truth or persisted them in disbelief except the arrival of the Messenger (ﷺ).

A parallel in speech is a poor, corrupt man saying to his advisor: "I will not cease my corruption until God grants me wealth." When God grants him wealth, he increases in corruption. His advisor then says: "You were not going to cease your corruption until you became wealthy, yet you did not plunge your head into corruption until after you attained wealth." He reminds him of what he used to say as a form of rebuke and binding proof.

"Infikak" (departing/detaching) means to separate from something after being joined to it, like a bone detaching from its joint. The meaning is: they were clinging to their religion and would not leave it except upon the arrival of the Bayyinah (clear evidence).

"The clear evidence" The clear proof.

"A Messenger" This is an appositive (badal) for "the clear evidence." In the reading of Abdullah [ibn Mas'ud], it is "a Messenger" (rasulan), acting as a state (hal) of the evidence.

"Scriptures, purified" Meaning scrolls, purified from falsehood.

"In which are writings" Meaning things written down.

"Correct" Meaning upright, speaking with truth and justice.

The meaning of their "division" is their divergence from the truth and their scattering away from it, or their splitting into factions: some believed, some denied and said "it is not him," and some recognized him but remained obstinate.

If you ask: Why did He group the People of the Book and the polytheists together at first, then single out the People of the Book in His saying, "And those who were given the Scripture did not become divided"? I say: Because they possessed knowledge of him due to his mention in their books. If they are described as having divided from him, then those who have no scripture are even more deserving of this description.

"And they were not commanded..." Meaning in the Torah and the Gospel, except to follow the Hanifi (monotheistic) religion. But they distorted and altered it.

"And that is the correct religion" Meaning the religion of the upright nation (millah). It is also read as "the religion of the upright" (al-qayyimah), interpreting "religion" as "nation."

If you ask: What is the aspect of His saying: "And they were not commanded except to worship Allah"? I say: Its meaning is: They were not commanded by what was in the two books except for the purpose that they worship Allah in this manner. Ibn Mas'ud read it as "except that they worship," meaning "by the fact that they worship."

Nafi' read al-bari'ah (the creation) with a hamza, while the rest of the reciters read it with takhif (without hamza). "The Prophet" and "the creation" (al-bariyyah) are among those words where usage has continued with takhif, abandoning the original form. It is also read as "the best of the creation" (khiyar al-bariyyah), where khiyar is the plural of khayyir (good), like jiyad and tiyab are plurals of jayyid (good) and tayyib (pure).

From the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "Whoever recites 'Lam yakun' (Surah al-Bayyinah) will be on the Day of Resurrection with the best of creation, morning and evening."