Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And when We said, ‘Enter this town and eat from it wherever you wish with ease, and enter the gate prostrating.’”

Then Allah the Exalted said: meaning, “And remember, O Children of Israel, when We said:” Is this a command of creation or a command of legislation? It is legislative, yes, it is both creative and legislative, because they were commanded to enter it prostrating, and they were commanded to enter the town in battle, and it was also made lawful for them; they actually entered it.
And His saying: The exegetes differed in identifying this town, and the correct view is that it refers to Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem); the correct view is that it refers to Bayt al-Maqdis, because Musa (peace be upon him) said to them: .
And His saying: The word “town” (qaryah) is derived from “qara” (gathering), and it is called a town because people gather there. The concept of a town in the Arabic language, O Ghani, is different from its concept in common usage, because in common usage, a small or large town is called a city, but in the Arabic language, which is the language of the Qur'an, there is no difference. So Allah the Exalted named Makkah the Mother of Towns (Umm al-Qura), towns, even though other than Makkah there are great cities, very great cities, yet He named it the Mother of Towns. And likewise, Allah the Exalted said: And what is meant by “the town from which He took you out”? Makkah. He says: This means that it is large and great, and yet Allah the Exalted named it a town, this town.
His saying: , “Enter and eat from it.” The command here in His saying: This is a command of creation, which becomes The command is for permission, meaning, “So We have made it lawful for you to eat from it” His saying: means, wherever you are in the town, in its center or its outskirts, you eat whatever you wish.
And His saying: means, tranquility and ease; no one opposes you in that or resists you. It is not said that this, for example, contradicts the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): We say to this that these are not war spoils, but rather it was made lawful for them to eat from this land, whether by way of purchase, or by way of farming, or the like.
Which gate? The gate of the town. means the gate of the town, because towns are given gates to protect them from the inside and the outside. And His saying: This is the definite article of known reference (al-‘ahd). What is the reference?
The student: Mental.

The Shaykh : Mental, because it was not mentioned previously and it is not present, because it is not present, so it is mental and is understood from His saying: because it is a town that has a gate.
And His saying: is in the accusative case as a state (hal) of what? Of the waw in .
What is meant by this prostration? It was said: The meaning is submission, as in the saying of Allah the Exalted: and so on. So the meaning is submission.
And it was said: The meaning is bowing (ruku'), as in the saying of Allah the Exalted: .
And it was said: The meaning is prostration in its literal sense, because that is the apparent meaning of the word. And according to this view, one does not accept that the meaning of the verse is: Its meaning is absolute submission, but rather it is prostration, and every person has a prostration that suits him. And likewise, one does not accept that His saying: means “bow to Him,” but rather they prostrated in reality, because His saying: indicates that. And based on this, if we say that the meaning of His saying: is literal prostration on the ground, there is a difficulty, because their entry in this state is impossible, for when a person is prostrating, he cannot enter; he is fixed in his place, is that not so? How do they enter prostrating? It is said that the answer to that is simple: This state is not a state of simultaneity, but rather a state in the future, because a state is sometimes simultaneous with the action and sometimes subsequent to it. So the meaning is: When you enter the gate, prostrate to Allah the Exalted in gratitude for this blessing. For this reason, when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) conquered Makkah, he prayed eight rak'ahs of Dhuhr. Some scholars said: It is the sunnah of Dhuha, and some said: It is the sunnah of the conquest, making this conquest have a sunnah, and that a person prays when he enters. And this is closer to the view that if we say the meaning of prostration is its literal sense, we do not depart from the apparent meaning of the word. And what is obligatory upon us in the exegesis of the Qur'an and the explanation of the hadith is to take what? The apparent meaning of the word, unless there is a preventer. If there is a preventer, otherwise the obligation is to take its apparent meaning when meaning, so when you enter it, prostrate as a state...