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Ayah
Word by Word
ثُمَّ
Then
أَوۡحَيۡنَآ
We revealed
إِلَيۡكَ
to you
أَنِ
that
ٱتَّبِعۡ
You follow
مِلَّةَ
(the) religion
إِبۡرَٰهِيمَ
(of) Ibrahim
حَنِيفٗاۖ
upright
وَمَا
and not
كَانَ
he was
مِنَ
of
ٱلۡمُشۡرِكِينَ
the polytheists
ثُمَّ
Then
أَوۡحَيۡنَآ
We revealed
إِلَيۡكَ
to you
أَنِ
that
ٱتَّبِعۡ
You follow
مِلَّةَ
(the) religion
إِبۡرَٰهِيمَ
(of) Ibrahim
حَنِيفٗاۖ
upright
وَمَا
and not
كَانَ
he was
مِنَ
of
ٱلۡمُشۡرِكِينَ
the polytheists
Translation
So We have taught thee the inspired (Message), "Follow the ways of Abraham the True in Faith, and he joined not gods with Allah."
Tafsir
Then We revealed to you, O Muhammad may peace and salutation be upon him, [saying]: 'Follow the creed, the religion, of Abraham, a haneef, and he was not of the idolaters': this [remark] is repeated in order to refute to the claim of the Jews and Christians that they follow his religion.
"
Some Good Things were Forbidden for the Jews
After mentioning that He has forbidden us to eat dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and any animal which is slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allah, and after making allowances for cases of necessity - which is part of making things easy for this Ummah, because Allah desires ease for us, not hardship - Allah then mentions what He forbade for the Jews in their laws before they were abrogated, and the restrictions, limitations and difficulties involved therein.
He tells us:
وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ هَادُواۡ حَرَّمۡنَا مَا قَصَصۡنَا عَلَيۡكَ مِن قَبۡلُ
And for those who are Jews, We have forbidden such things as We have mentioned to you before.
meaning in Surah Al-An`am, where Allah says:
وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ هَادُواۡ حَرَّمۡنَا كُلَّ ذِي ظُفُرٍ وَمِنَ الۡبَقَرِ وَالۡغَنَمِ حَرَّمۡنَا عَلَيۡهِمۡ شُحُومَهُمَا إِلاَّ مَا حَمَلَتۡ ظُهُورُهُمَا أَوِ الۡحَوَايَا أَوۡ مَا اخۡتَلَطَ بِعَظۡمٍ
ذَلِكَ جَزَيۡنَاهُم بِبَغۡيِهِمۡ وِإِنَّا لَصَادِقُونَ
And unto those who are Jews, We forbade every (animal) with undivided hoof, and We forbade them the fat of the ox and the sheep except what adheres to their backs or their Hawaya, or is mixed up with a bone. Thus We recompensed them for their rebellion. And verily, We are Truthful. (6:146)
Hence Allah says here:
وَمَا ظَلَمۡنَاهُمۡ
And We did not wrong them,
meaning, in the restrictions that We imposed upon them.
وَلَـكِن كَانُواۡ أَنفُسَهُمۡ يَظۡلِمُونَ
but they wronged themselves.
meaning, they deserved that.
This is like the Ayah:
فَبِظُلۡمٍ مِّنَ الَّذِينَ هَادُواۡ حَرَّمۡنَا عَلَيۡهِمۡ طَيِّبَـتٍ أُحِلَّتۡ لَهُمۡ وَبِصَدِّهِمۡ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ كَثِيراً
Because of the wrong committed of those who were Jews, We prohibited certain good foods which had been lawful for them - and (also) for their hindering many from Allah's way. (4:160)
Then Allah tells us, honoring and reminding believers who have sinned of His blessings, that whoever among them repents, He will accept his repentance, as He says
ثُمَّ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لِلَّذِينَ عَمِلُواۡ السُّوءَ بِجَهَالَةٍ
Then, your Lord for those who did evil out of ignorance,
Some of the Salaf said that this means that everyone who disobeys Allah is ignorant.
ثُمَّ تَابُواۡ مِن بَعۡدِ ذَلِكَ وَأَصۡلَحُواۡ
and afterward repent and do righteous deeds,
meaning, they give up the sins they used to commit and turn to doing acts of obedience to Allah.
إِنَّ رَبَّكَ مِن بَعۡدِهَا
verily, after that, your Lord is...
means, after that mistake
لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Pardoning, Most Merciful
Allah says:
إِنَّ إِبۡرَاهِيمَ كَانَ أُمَّةً قَانِتًا لِلّهِ حَنِيفًا وَلَمۡ يَكُ مِنَ الۡمُشۡرِكِينَ
شَاكِرًا لاَِّنۡعُمِهِ اجۡتَبَاهُ
Verily, Ibrahim was (himself) an Ummah, obedient to Allah, a Hanif (monotheist), and he was not one of the idolators.(He was) thankful for His favors. He (Allah) chose him
He selected him, as Allah says:
وَلَقَدۡ ءَاتَيۡنَأ إِبۡرَهِيمَ رُشۡدَهُ مِن قَبۡلُ وَكُنَّا بِهِ عَـلِمِينَ
And before, We indeed gave Ibrahim his integrity, and We were indeed most knowledgeable about him. (21:51).
Then Allah says:
وَهَدَاهُ إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُّسۡتَقِيمٍ
and guided him to a straight path.
which means to worship Allah alone, without partners or associate, in the manner that He prescribed and which pleases Him
وَاتَيۡنَاهُ فِي الۡدُّنۡيَا حَسَنَةً
And We gave him good in this world,
meaning, `We granted him all that a believer may require for a good and complete life in this world.'
وَإِنَّهُ فِي الاخِرَةِ لَمِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ
and in the Hereafter he shall be of the righteous.
Concerning the Ayah:
وَاتَيۡنَاهُ فِي الۡدُّنۡيَا حَسَنَةً
(And We gave him good in this world), Mujahid said:
""This means a truthful tongue.
ثُمَّ أَوۡحَيۡنَا إِلَيۡكَ أَنِ اتَّبِعۡ مِلَّةَ إِبۡرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا
Then, We have sent the revelation to you:""Follow the religion of Ibrahim (he was a) Hanif...
meaning, `because of his perfection, greatness, and the soundness of his Tawhid and his way, We revealed to you, O Seal of the Messengers and Leader of the Prophets,'
أَنِ اتَّبِعۡ مِلَّةَ إِبۡرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الۡمُشۡرِكِينَ
Follow the religion of Ibrahim (he was a) Hanif and he was not of the idolators.
This is like the Ayah in Surah Al-An`am:
قُلۡ إِنَّنِى هَدَانِى رَبِّى إِلَى صِرَطٍ مُّسۡتَقِيمٍ دِينًا قِيَمًا مِّلَّةَ إِبۡرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الۡمُشۡرِكِينَ
Say:""Truly, my Lord has guided me to a straight path, a right religion, the religion of Ibrahim, (he was a) Hanif and he was not of the idolators."" (6:161
Then Allah rebukes the Jews,
إِنَّمَا جُعِلَ السَّبۡتُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اخۡتَلَفُواۡ فِيهِ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَيَحۡكُمُ بَيۡنَهُمۡ يَوۡمَ الۡقِيَامَةِ فِيمَا كَانُواۡ فِيهِ يَخۡتَلِفُونَ
The Sabbath was only prescribed for those who differed concerning it, and verily, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection about what they differed over.
The Prescription of the Sabbath for the Jews
There is no doubt that for every nation, Allah prescribed one day of the week for people to gather to worship Him. For this Ummah He prescribed Friday, because it is the sixth day, on which Allah completed and perfected His creation. On this day He gathered and completed His blessings for His servants.
It was said that Allah prescribed this day for the Children of Israel through His Prophet Musa, but they changed it and chose Saturday because it was the day on which the Creator did not create anything, as He had completed His creation on Friday. Allah made observance of the Sabbath obligatory for them in the laws of the Tawrah (Torah), telling them to keep the Sabbath.
At the same time, He told them to follow Muhammad when he was sent, and took their promises and covenant to that effect.
Hence Allah says:
إِنَّمَا جُعِلَ السَّبۡتُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اخۡتَلَفُواۡ فِيهِ
The Sabbath was only prescribed for those who differed concerning it,
Mujahid said:
""They observed the Sabbath (Saturday) and ignored Friday.""
Then they continued to observe Saturday until Allah sent `Isa bin Maryam. It was said that he told them to change it to Sunday, and it was also said that he did not forsake the laws of the Tawrah except for a few rulings which were abrogated, and he continued to observe the Sabbath until he was taken up (into heaven).
Afterwards, the Christians at the time of Constantine were the ones who changed it to Sunday in order to be different from the Jews, and they started to pray towards the east instead of facing the Dome (i.e., Jerusalem). And Allah knows best.
It was reported in the Two Sahihs that Abu Hurayrah heard the Messenger of Allah say:
نَحۡنُ الاۡخِرُونَ السَّابِقُونَ يَوۡمَ الۡقِيَامَةِ بَيۡدَ أَنَّهُمۡ أُوتُوا الۡكِتَابَ مِنۡ قَبۡلِنَا ثُمَّ هَذَا يَوۡمُهُمُ الَّذِي فَرَضَ اللهُ عَلَيۡهِمۡ فَاخۡتَلَفُوا فِيهِ فَهَدَانَا اللهُ لَهُ فَالنَّاسُ لَنَا فِيهِ تَبَعٌ الۡيَهُودُ غَدًا وَالنَّصَارَى بَعۡدَ غَد
We are the last, but we will be the first on the Day of Resurrection, even though they were given the Book before us. This is the day that Allah obligated upon them, but they differed concerning it. Allah guided us to this day, and the people observe their days after us, the Jews on the following day and the Christians on the day after that.
This version was recorded by Al-Bukhari.
It was reported that Abu Hurayrah and Hudhayfah said that the Messenger of Allah said:
أَضَلَّ اللهُ عَنِ الۡجُمُعَةِ مَنۡ كَانَ قَبۡلَنَا فَكَانَ لِلۡيَهُودِ يَوۡمُ السَّبۡتِ وَكَانَ لِلنَّصَارَى يَوۡمُ الاَۡحَدِ فَجَاءَ اللهُ بِنَا فَهَدَانَا اللهُ لِيَوۡمِ الۡجُمُعَةِ فَجَعَلَ الۡجُمُعَةَ وَالسَّبۡتَ وَالاَۡحَدَ وَكَذَلِكَ هُمۡ تَبَعٌ لَنَا يَوۡمَ الۡقِيَامَةِ نَحۡنُ الاۡخِرُونَ مِنۡ أَهۡلِ الدُّنۡيَا وَالاَۡوَّلُونَ يَوۡمَ الۡقِيَامَةِ وَالۡمَقۡضِيُّ بَيۡنَهُمۡ قَبۡلَ الۡخَلَيِق
Allah let the people who came before us stray from Friday, so the Jews had Saturday and the Christians had Sunday. Then Allah brought us and guided us to Friday. So now there are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, thus they will follow us on the Day of Resurrection. We are the last of the people of this world, but will be the first on the Day of Resurrection, and will be the first to be judged, before all of creation.
It was reported by Muslim."
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