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Ayah
Word by Word
وَإِذۡ
And when
قَالَتۡ
said
أُمَّةٞ
a community
مِّنۡهُمۡ
among them
لِمَ
Why
تَعِظُونَ
(do) you preach
قَوۡمًا
a people
ٱللَّهُ
(whom) Allah
مُهۡلِكُهُمۡ
(is going to) destroy them
أَوۡ
or
مُعَذِّبُهُمۡ
punish them
عَذَابٗا
(with) a punishment
شَدِيدٗاۖ
severe
قَالُواْ
They said
مَعۡذِرَةً
To be absolved
إِلَىٰ
before
رَبِّكُمۡ
your Lord
وَلَعَلَّهُمۡ
and that they may
يَتَّقُونَ
become righteous
وَإِذۡ
And when
قَالَتۡ
said
أُمَّةٞ
a community
مِّنۡهُمۡ
among them
لِمَ
Why
تَعِظُونَ
(do) you preach
قَوۡمًا
a people
ٱللَّهُ
(whom) Allah
مُهۡلِكُهُمۡ
(is going to) destroy them
أَوۡ
or
مُعَذِّبُهُمۡ
punish them
عَذَابٗا
(with) a punishment
شَدِيدٗاۖ
severe
قَالُواْ
They said
مَعۡذِرَةً
To be absolved
إِلَىٰ
before
رَبِّكُمۡ
your Lord
وَلَعَلَّهُمۡ
and that they may
يَتَّقُونَ
become righteous
Translation
When some of them said: "Why do ye preach to a people whom Allah will destroy or visit with a terrible punishment?"- said the preachers:" To discharge our duty to your Lord, and perchance they may fear Him."
Tafsir
And when (wa-idh is a supplement to the preceding idh, 'how') a community among them, who neither fished nor prohibited it, said, to those who prohibited it: 'Why do you preach [admonition] to a folk whom God is about to destroy or chastise with a severe chastisement?' They said, our admonishing [them] is, 'As an exculpation, by which we excuse ourselves, before your Lord, lest we are reproached for failing to prohibit [them] in any way; and so that they might be wary, of fishing'.
"The Jews transgress the Sanctity of the Sabbath
This Ayah explains Allah's statement,
وَلَقَدۡ عَلِمۡتُمُ الَّذِينَ اعۡتَدَواۡ مِنكُمۡ فِى السَّبۡتِ
And indeed you knew those among you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath... (2:65)
Allah says to His Prophet here,
واَسۡأَلۡهُمۡ
And ask them,
ask the Jews who are with you, about the story of their fellow Jews who defied Allah's command, so that His punishment overtook them all of a sudden for their evil actions, transgression and defiance by way of deceit.
Also, warn the Jews (O Muhammad) against hiding your description that they find in their books, so that they do not suffer what their forefathers suffered.
The village mentioned here is Aylah, on the shore of the Qulzum (Red) Sea.
Muhammad bin Ishaq recorded from Dawud bin Al-Husayn from Ikrimah that Ibn Abbas commented on Allah's statement,
واَسۡأَلۡهُمۡ عَنِ الۡقَرۡيَةِ الَّتِي كَانَتۡ حَاضِرَةَ الۡبَحۡرِ
And ask them about the town that was by the sea...
""A village called Aylah between Madyan and At-Tur (which is in Sinai).
Ikrimah, Mujahid, Qatadah and As-Suddi said similarly.
Allah's statement,
إِذۡ يَعۡدُونَ فِي السَّبۡتِ
when they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath;
means, they transgressed in the Sabbath and defied Allah's command to them to keep it sanctified,
إِذۡ تَأۡتِيهِمۡ حِيتَانُهُمۡ يَوۡمَ سَبۡتِهِمۡ شُرَّعاً
when their fish came to them openly on the Sabbath day,
According to Ad-Dahhak who reported it from Ibn Abbas that;
it used to be visible on top of the water.
وَيَوۡمَ لَا يَسۡبِتُونَ لَا تَأۡتِيهِمۡ كَذَلِكَ نَبۡلُوهُم
and did not come to them on the day they had no Sabbath. Thus We made a trial of them,
Ibn Jarir said,
means, this is how We tested them by making the fish swim close to the surface of the water, on the day which they were prohibited to fish. The fish would be hidden from them on the day when they were allowed to fish,
كَذَلِكَ نَبۡلُوهُم
(Thus We made a trial for them,) so that We test them,
بِمَا كَانُوا يَفۡسُقُونَ
for they used to rebel against Allah's command.
by defying His obedience and rebelling against it.
Therefore, these were a people who used a trick to violate Allah's prohibitions, taking an action that seemed legal on the surface. However, in reality, this action was meant to transgress the prohibition.
Imam and scholar Abu Abdullah Ibn Battah reported that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,
لَاا تَرۡتَكِبوُا مَا ارۡتَكَبَتِ الۡيَهُودُ فَتَسۡتَحِلُّوا مَحَارِمَ اللهِ بِأَدۡنَى الۡحِيَل
Do not repeat what the Jews committed, and violate Allah's prohibitions using deceitful tricks.
This Hadith has a reasonable chain
Those Who breached the Sabbath were turned into Monkeys, but Those Who prohibited Their Actions were saved
Allah says;
وَإِذَ قَالَتۡ أُمَّةٌ مِّنۡهُمۡ
And when a community among them said:
Allah said that the people of this village were divided into three groups, a group that committed the prohibition, catching fish on the Sabbath, as we described in the Tafsir of Surah Al-Baqarah. Another group prohibited them from transgression and avoided them. A third group neither prohibited them, nor participated in their action. The third group said to the preachers,
لِمَ تَعِظُونَ قَوۡمًا اللّهُ مُهۡلِكُهُمۡ أَوۡ مُعَذِّبُهُمۡ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا
""Why do you preach to a people whom Allah is about to destroy or to punish with a severe torment!""
They said, `why do you forbid these people from evil, when you know that they are destroyed and have earned Allah's punishment!' Therefore, they said, there is no benefit in forbidding them.
قَالُواۡ
(The preachers) said:
مَعۡذِرَةً إِلَى رَبِّكُمۡ
""In order to be free from guilt before your Lord (Allah),""
`for we were commanded to enjoin righteousness and forbid evil,'
وَلَعَلَّهُمۡ يَتَّقُونَ
""and perhaps they may fear Allah.""
for on account of our advice, they might stop this evil and repent to Allah. Certainly, if they repent to Allah, Allah will accept their repentance and grant them His mercy.'
Allah said
فَلَمَّا نَسُواۡ مَا ذُكِّرُواۡ بِهِ
So when they forgot the reminder that had been given to them,
when the evil doers refused the advice,
أَنجَيۡنَا الَّذِينَ يَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ السُّوءِ وَأَخَذۡنَا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواۡ
We rescued those who forbade evil, but We seized who did wrong,
who committed the transgression,
بِعَذَابٍ بَيِيسٍ
with a severe torment,
Allah stated that those who enjoined good were saved, while those who committed the transgression were destroyed, but He did not mention the end of those who were passive (the third group), for the compensation is comparable to the deed. This type did not do what would warrant praise, nor commit wrong so that they are admonished.
Ikrimah said,
""Ibn Abbas said about the Ayah:`I do not know whether or not the people were saved who said;
لِمَ تَعِظُونَ قَوۡمًا اللّهُ مُهۡلِكُهُمۡ
(""Why do you preach to a people whom Allah is about to destroy...""). So I continued discussing it with him until I convinced him that they were. Then he gave me (the gift of) a garment.""
Allah said,
وَأَخَذۡنَا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواۡ
بِعَذَابٍ بَيِيسٍ
and We seized those who did wrong with a Ba'is torment,
indicating that those who remained were saved.
As for `Ba'is', it means `severe', according to Mujahid, or `painful', according to Qatadah. These meanings are synonymous, and Allah knows best.
بِمَا كَانُواۡ يَفۡسُقُونَ
because they used to rebel against Allah's command.
Allah said next,
فَلَمَّا عَتَوۡاۡ عَن مَّا نُهُواۡ عَنۡهُ قُلۡنَا لَهُمۡ كُونُواۡ قِرَدَةً خَاسِيِينَ
So when they exceeded the limits of what they were prohibited, We said to them:""Be you monkeys, despised.""
خَاسِيِينَ
(despised),
humiliated, disgraced and rejected."
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