Additional material: Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Say, O People of the Book, come to a word of equality between us and you."
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The reciter: [Ali 'Imran 3:64-65]
The Shaykh : You have "Say, O People of the Book," recite the verse correctly.
The reciter:[Ali 'Imran 3:65-66] That is sufficient.
The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. Allah the Exalted said: "If they turn away, then indeed Allah is Knowing of the corrupters." This is the summary of tonight's lesson, and we have taken the benefits of the previous verse.
He said: "If they turn away." The pronoun refers to these Christians from whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) requested the mutual imprecation (mubahalah)[Ali 'Imran 3:61]. It has been mentioned previously that they refused the mubahalah because they knew that if they engaged in it, the punishment would befall them, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is in the truth and they are in falsehood.
Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: meaning, regarding the mubahalah and regarding following you, O Muhammad. Indeed, they are corrupters. For this reason, He said: [Ali 'Imran 3:63], and He did not say "Knowing of them." Rather, He made the explicit mention in the place of the implied pronoun. The explicit mention in the place of the implied pronoun has benefits. The first benefit is the recording, or the application of the description in this explicit form to the one to whom it refers. That is, this description placed in the place of the pronoun applies to the referent of the pronoun. So it is as if He said: "If they turn away, then indeed Allah is Knowing of them," but He described them with corruption.
The second benefit is generality. If the pronoun had come here according to the context, "then indeed Allah is Knowing of them," the knowledge would be restricted to whom? To them, specifically. But when He said "of the corrupters," it became general, applying to them and to others.
The third benefit is that this action which occurred from these people, about whom the explicit mention was made in the place of the implied pronoun, is a type of this description which was expressed in the place of the pronoun. That is, their action is corruption, and it is turning away and turning aside from the religion of Allah.
So in this noble verse, among its benefits is: the warning of whoever turns away from the religion of Allah the Exalted. The aspect of this is His saying: "Then indeed Allah is Knowing of the corrupters," because the intended meaning of mentioning His knowledge of them is to warn them, and that their state is not hidden from Him, and He will punish them according to what their state requires. And among the benefits of this noble verse is that turning away from the religion of Allah is corruption, as Allah the Exalted said:[Ar-Rum 30:41]. Is the turning away itself corruption, or is it a cause of corruption? The answer to this is that we say: It is corruption and a cause of corruption. The aspect of it being corruption is that when one turns away from the religion of Allah, what is other than it takes its place. And it is known that the religion of Allah is righteousness, and what is other than it is corruption. For this reason, we find that the laws enacted by the servants of Allah do not rectify the people. The people are not rectified by them except by what is in accordance with the Shari'ah. And as for what contradicts the Shari'ah, it is corruption in every case, no matter how intelligent or understanding the lawgivers are regarding the conditions of people. If they enact laws that contradict the Shari'ah of Allah, it is corruption in every case. So the turning away itself is corruption, and it is also a cause of corruption, because drought, famine, restriction of provision, and trials, all of their cause is sins. Allah the Exalted said: [Ar-Rum 30:41]. And He the Exalted said: [Al-A'raf 7:96]. And He the Exalted said: [An-Nahl 16:112]. So turning away from the religion of Allah is corruption and a cause of corruption.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that whoever turns away from the religion of Allah is a corrupter, even if he claims to be a reformer, due to His saying:[Ali 'Imran 3:63]. For this reason, many of the exegetes said regarding His saying the Exalted: [Al-A'raf 7:56]. He said, meaning, do not corrupt it with sins. So every sinner is a corrupter, whether he wills it or not. And every one who obeys Allah is a reformer, because things are made clear by their opposites. So if the sinner is a corrupter, then the obedient one is a reformer. But the obedient one, in reality, may be righteous in himself but not a reformer for others. And he may be righteous in himself and a reformer for others. So if he is a worshipper and a caller to Allah, he becomes righteous and a reformer. And if he is a worshipper but not a caller to Allah, he becomes righteous but not a reformer. But he is not complete in his righteousness, because the completeness of righteousness is that you call to Allah the Exalted.
Then He the Exalted said: "Say, O People of the Book:"[Ali 'Imran 3:64]. The address in His saying "Say" is to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And a rule has passed us that when Allah the Exalted begins something with "Say" directed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it implies increased care for it, because it is a command to convey this specific thing. Otherwise, the entire Qur'an is something the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is commanded to say.
"O People of the Book." People of the Book means the Jews and the Christians. And on this basis, the intended meaning of "Book" is the genus, to be inclusive of what? The student.
I mentioned that the intended meaning of People of the Book is the Jews and the Christians, and I said that on this basis, the Book is for the genus, to be inclusive of what?
The student: The Jews and the Christians.
The Shaykh : No, yes.
The student: The Torah and the Gospel.
The Shaykh : The Torah and the Gospel. So "O People of the Book" means "O People of the Torah and the Gospel." And He addressed these people as People of the Book, or described them with that, because there are no revealed books whose effects remain except the Torah and the Gospel. For this reason, they are called People of the Book. Otherwise, there is no Messenger except that he has a Book with which he calls, as He the Exalted said:[Al-Hadid 57:25]. With them, meaning with the Messengers, are the Book and the Balance. But the books that remained and had an effect, even if there is some alteration in them, are those with the Jews and the Christians. "O People of the Book," who is intended by them?
The students: The Jews and the Christians.
The Shaykh : The Jews and the Christians. Good. Here, if someone were to ask us to interpret "People of the Book" by its intended meaning and by its wording.
(64) Say, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah." But if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]." (65) O People of the Scripture, why do you argue about Abraham while the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Then will you not reason?
قل يا أهل الكتاب تعالوا إلى كلمة سواء بيننا وبينكم أن لا نعبد إلى الله ولا نشرك به شيئاً ولا يتخذ بعضنا بعضاً أرباباً من دون الله فإن تولوا فقولوا اشهدوا بأنا مسلمون ، قل يا أهل الكتاب لم تحادون في ابراهيمThe Shaykh : You have "Say, O People of the Book," recite the verse correctly.
The reciter:
(65) O People of the Scripture, why do you argue about Abraham while the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Then will you not reason? (66) Here you are - those who have argued about that of which you have [some] knowledge, but why do you argue about that of which you have no knowledge? And Allah knows, while you know not.
يا أهل الكتاب لم تحاجون في إبراهيم وما أنزلت التوراة والإنجيل إلا من بعده أفلا تعقلون ، ها أنتم هؤلاء حاججتم فيما لكم به علم فلم تحاجون فيما ليس لكم به علم والله يعلم وأنتم لا تعلمونThe Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. Allah the Exalted said: "If they turn away, then indeed Allah is Knowing of the corrupters." This is the summary of tonight's lesson, and we have taken the benefits of the previous verse.
He said: "If they turn away." The pronoun refers to these Christians from whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) requested the mutual imprecation (mubahalah)
say, "Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, then supplicate earnestly [together] and invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars [among us]."
فقل تعالوا ندعوا أبناءنا وأبناءكم ونساءنا ونساءكم وأنفسنا وأنفسكم ثم نبتهل فنجعل لعنة الله على الكاذبينAllah the Mighty and Majestic says:
If they turn away
فإن تولواthen indeed - Allah is Knowing of the corrupters.
فإن الله عليم بالمفسدينThe second benefit is generality. If the pronoun had come here according to the context, "then indeed Allah is Knowing of them," the knowledge would be restricted to whom? To them, specifically. But when He said "of the corrupters," it became general, applying to them and to others.
The third benefit is that this action which occurred from these people, about whom the explicit mention was made in the place of the implied pronoun, is a type of this description which was expressed in the place of the pronoun. That is, their action is corruption, and it is turning away and turning aside from the religion of Allah.
So in this noble verse, among its benefits is: the warning of whoever turns away from the religion of Allah the Exalted. The aspect of this is His saying: "Then indeed Allah is Knowing of the corrupters," because the intended meaning of mentioning His knowledge of them is to warn them, and that their state is not hidden from Him, and He will punish them according to what their state requires. And among the benefits of this noble verse is that turning away from the religion of Allah is corruption, as Allah the Exalted said:
Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by [reason of] what the hands of people have earned
ظهر الفساد في البر والبحر بما كسبت أيدي الناسCorruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by [reason of] what the hands of people have earned so He may let them taste part of [the consequence of] what they have done that perhaps they will return [to righteousness].
ظهر الفساد في البر والبحر بما كسبت أيدي الناس ليذيقهم بعض الذي عملوا لعلهم يرجعونAnd if only the people of the cities had believed and feared Allah, We would have opened upon them blessings from the heaven and the earth; but they denied [the messengers], so We seized them for what they were earning."
ولو أن أهل القرى آمنوا واتقوا لفتحنا عليهم بركات من السماء والأرض ولكن كذبوا فأخذناهم بما كانوا يكسبونAnd Allah presents an example: a city which was safe and secure, its provision coming to it in abundance from every location, but it denied the favors of Allah. So Allah made it taste the envelopment of hunger and fear for what they had been doing.
وضرب الله مثلاً قرية كانت آمنة مطمئنة يأتيها رزقها رغداً من كل مكان فكفرت بأنعم الله فأذاقها الله لباس الجوع والخوف بما كانوا يصنعونAnd among the benefits of this noble verse is that whoever turns away from the religion of Allah is a corrupter, even if he claims to be a reformer, due to His saying:
then indeed - Allah is Knowing of the corrupters.
فإن الله عليم بالمفسدينAnd cause not corruption upon the earth after its reformation
ولا تفسدوا في الأرض بعد إصلاحهاThen He the Exalted said: "Say, O People of the Book:"
Say, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you
قل يا أهل الكتاب تعالوا إلى كلمة سواء بيننا وبينكم"O People of the Book." People of the Book means the Jews and the Christians. And on this basis, the intended meaning of "Book" is the genus, to be inclusive of what? The student.
I mentioned that the intended meaning of People of the Book is the Jews and the Christians, and I said that on this basis, the Book is for the genus, to be inclusive of what?
The student: The Jews and the Christians.
The Shaykh : No, yes.
The student: The Torah and the Gospel.
The Shaykh : The Torah and the Gospel. So "O People of the Book" means "O People of the Torah and the Gospel." And He addressed these people as People of the Book, or described them with that, because there are no revealed books whose effects remain except the Torah and the Gospel. For this reason, they are called People of the Book. Otherwise, there is no Messenger except that he has a Book with which he calls, as He the Exalted said:
We have already sent Our messengers with clear evidences and sent down with them
لقد أرسلنا رسلنا بالبينات وأنزلنا معهمThe students: The Jews and the Christians.
The Shaykh : The Jews and the Christians. Good. Here, if someone were to ask us to interpret "People of the Book" by its intended meaning and by its wording.