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113.
" the jews said: ` the christians rest on naught ',
and
the christians said:
` the
jews rest on naught '; yet they (both) recite the (same) book.
even
so, similar to their sayings, spoke those who know not.
allah
will judge between them on the day of judgement in what they
differ."
occasion of revelation :
some of the commentators have
narrated from ibn abbas that
when a group of christians who
were from najran were attending a
gathering of the prophet's (p.b.u.h.),
some of the jewish scholars were
there, too. these two groups
began disputing with each other before
the prophet (p.b.u.h.). rafi`-ibn-harmalah,
one of the jews, turned to
the christians and said that
their religion was based on naught. thus,
he was rejecting the prophethood
of jesus (a.s.) and his divine book.
then, a man from among the christians
from najran, too, replied to
him with a similar expression
and said that the religion of the jews was
based on naught. thus, he also
rejected both the prophethood of
moses (a.s.) and the turah.
it was at that time that the above verse
was revealed and reproached
both groups for their fabricated
statements. 1
commentary:
exclusivity, the fruit of
ignorance
in the previous verse, we became
acquainted with a portion of the
proofless claims of a group
of the jews and the christians. the verse
under discussion indicates that
when a proofless claim comes forth, it
results in exclusivity and then
leads to contradiction.
" the jews said: ` the christians
rest on naught ' , and christians said:
` the jews rest on naught
'; ..."
the phrase: ` rest on naught
' may mean that they have no rank
and honour with allah; or their
belief is not a thing worthwhile.
then, to complete the above
idea, it adds:
"...yet they (both) recite
the (same) book. ..."
that is, with the divine book
that they have in their hands which
can guide them toward the right
path concerning these problems, it is
surprising that they say such
words which originate from nowhere
except prejudice and enmity.
then the qur'an continues saying:
"...even so, similar to their
sayings, spoke those who know not."
(although these are the people
of the book and those are pagans or
idolaters.)
this verse introduces ignorance
as the origin of bigotry and
prejudice, because ignorant
people are always shut in their own worlds
and do not accept other than
that which they know. they seriously
believe only in the faith that
they have been acquainted with from their
early childhood, even if it
is false or superstitious. therefore, they put
aside everything other than
that which they believe.
at the end of the verse, it
says:
"...allah will judge between
them on the day of judgement
in what they differ."
it is in the hereafter where
the facts will be entirely evident and
the proof and references of
all things will become perfectly manifest.
none will be able to deny what
is right and, thus, there will remain no
dispute. yes, one of the special
characteristics of the resurrection day
is that all disagreements will
come to an end.
by the way, the above verse
reminds muslims that although the
followers of these religions
have stood against them and rejected islam,
therefore, they need not be
worried because the jews and christians do
not verify even themselves.
each of them nullifies the other and, in
principle, ignorance is the
origin of bigotry and bigotry is the source of
exclusivity.
1 majma`-ul-bayan,
vol. 1, p. 188, & tafsir ghartabi and tafsir almanar |
