Explanation of the author's statement: And His saying, the Exalted: ((Say: Shall I inform you of who is worse than that in reward from Allah? One whom Allah has cursed and upon whom He has become angry, and of whom He made apes and swine, and who worshipped the Taghut))

The Shaykh : And His saying, the Exalted:
: That is, O Muhammad, in response to these Jews and Christians who took the religion of Islam as mockery and play. Say to them: "Inform you" means "tell you." The interrogative here is for confirmation; for confirmation, meaning I will confirm this news upon you. And his saying: "Worse" here is a superlative noun, and its original form is "ashar," but the hamza was dropped from it for ease of pronunciation due to frequent usage. Similarly, the word "khayr" (good), and similarly the word "al-nas" (people), which is a shortened form of "al-anas," and similarly the word "Allah," which is a shortened form of "al-Ilah."
And his saying: What is being referred to? What preceded this verse, namely what the People of the Book criticized the Muslims for.
And his saying: "Mithabah" (reward). What is its grammatical case? It is a specification (tamyiz) for "sharr" (worse), because "sharr" is a superlative noun, so whatever follows it to clarify it is considered a specification. Ibn Malik says:
"A noun meaning 'from' that clarifies an indefinite noun *** is placed in the accusative as a specification by what has explained it".
So here, "worse" — worse in what? He explained it by saying: "Mithabah." And "mithabah" comes from "thaba" (to return), meaning to return, and it is used for the reward. So, "who is worse than that in reward from Allah."
And his saying: That is, in His knowledge, Glorified and Exalted is He, and in His recompense, whether punishment or reward in good.
And his saying: "Man" is a relative pronoun, serving as the predicate for a deleted subject, estimated to be "He is the one whom Allah has cursed," because the interrogative ended at his saying: This is the interrogative.
The answer: So on this basis, "man" is a relative pronoun serving as the predicate for a deleted subject, meaning "He is the one whom Allah has cursed." Yes.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : No. No, it does not become so, because the answer is independent of the question. Yes.
The student: Shaykh, the indication...

The Shaykh : What is the indication?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : This is the sign of interrogation.
The student: Interrogation.

The Shaykh : If you see this in the writing, it is the sign of interrogation.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : No. It is the sign of interrogation. For exclamatory expressions, they place a line with a dot underneath it, or two lines with a dot underneath.
He said: "Cursed" means He expelled and distanced him from His mercy, because cursing is expulsion and distancing from the mercy of Allah.
He unleashed His anger upon him. Yes, He unleashed His anger upon him.
And the discussion regarding anger and its being a true attribute of Allah, the Exalted, and the denial of distorting it to mean retaliation, has been discussed previously many times, so there is no need to repeat it. We mentioned the general rule of the people of the Sunnah and the community that the verses and hadiths of the attributes remain on their apparent meaning befitting Allah, Mighty and Majestic. They are not made of the same kind as the attributes of created beings, but rather they are as befits Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, and are not distorted so as to be denied of Allah. So we do not exaggerate in affirmation, nor in negation.
And his saying: Yes, "Apes" is the plural of "qird" (ape), which is a known animal, the closest in resemblance to man. And "swine" is the plural of "khanzir" (pig), which is that known foul animal that Allah described as an abomination. From whom? The indication is to whom? To the Jews, for they were cursed and made into apes, as Allah, the Exalted, said: And swine. We want a verse that indicates this.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Is there not another? Fine. Now, I do not remember what is necessary. You should refer to the indexed dictionary of the Qur'an; it may clarify other verses. Fine. And his saying: In which verse? In his saying: For they are the Jews, as is well known, for Allah became angry with them. Fine.
And his saying: There are two readings in it: "Abada" (worshipped) and "al-Taghut."
The reading currently known in the mushaf is , considering it a past tense verb coordinated with his saying: , coordinated with his saying: , meaning "one who worshipped the Taghut." That is, and one who worshipped the Taghut, so it is coordinated with the relative clause of "man" (who) whom He cursed. And "man" was not repeated despite the long interval because this applies to a single described entity. If "man" were repeated and it were said "and one who worshipped the Taghut," it would be suspected that they are another group, whereas they are one group on this reading. We say "Abada" is a past tense verb and the doer is hidden. Yes, permissibly, estimated to be "he." It refers to whom? To the pronoun in his saying: ... And by this we know the difference in the doer in the relative clause and what is coordinated with it. Stay with us. The doer in the relative clause and what is coordinated with it is different, because the doer in the attribute of the relative pronoun is whom? Allah, "whom Allah cursed." And the doer in this coordinated part is whom? Yes, it refers to the "ha" (he) which is the object. It refers to the object, not the doer. Is it clear, everyone? Fine. Yes. ... It is permissible for whom.
And his saying, the second reading: "Wa-abd" is read as , but it is with a kasrah for the genitive case. "Abd" is in the genitive and "al-Taghut" is the genitive complement. "Abd al-Taghut." It is said to be a collective noun for "abd" (worshipper), or it is said to be singular. In any case, the intended meaning is the worshipper of the Taghut, the worshipper of the Taghut. So there are now two readings: . As for "al-Taghut," it is with a kasrah in all cases.
"Al-Taghut" is one, and the second is "wa-abbud" and "abd al-Taghut." "Abbud" is with a fathah on the 'ayn and a dammah on the ba. So the difference between the two readings is in "abd": the fathah is agreed upon, the fathah on the 'ayn is agreed upon, the ba is different, and the dal is agreed upon. So the disagreement is only in the ba. So on the reading of the verb, it is open (fathah), and on the reading of the noun, it is closed (dammah): "Abbud al-Taghut."
"Al-Taghut": It differs on the two readings. On the reading of the verb in "abd," it is open (fathah), and on the reading of the noun, it is closed (kasrah) for the genitive. Yes. And his saying.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Hm?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : "Abidah"?
The student: "Al-Taghuti."

The Shaykh : No, that is a mistake. But the disagreement is only in the ba, either with a dammah or a fathah.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Yes?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : With a dammah on the 'ayn?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : No, this is not from the Seven Readings. They mentioned twenty-four readings. The composition of "abd" with "al-Taghut" in the most common composition is anomalous. The Seven Readings include or . These two are from the Seven Readings, and the rest are anomalous readings, not from the Salaf. Fine.
"Al-Taghut": We said it is that by which a person exceeds his limit, whether it is a worshipped object, a followed leader, or an obeyed authority. Even obeying rulers or scholars in making lawful what Allah has forbidden or forbidding what Allah has made lawful is considered among their worship.