4:46 An-Nisaa (The Women)

ثم بين كيفية ضلالهم وعنادهم وإيثارهم الباطل على الحق فقال: { مِنَ الَّذِينَ هَادُوا } أي: اليهود وهم علماء الضلال منهم. { يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَنْ مَوَاضِعِهِ } إما بتغيير اللفظ أو المعنى، أو هما جميعا. فمن تحريفهم تنزيل الصفات التي ذكرت في كتبهم التي لا تنطبق ولا تصدق إلا على محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم على أنه غير مراد بها، ولا مقصود بها بل أريد بها غيره، وكتمانهم ذلك. فهذا حالهم في العلم أشر حال، قلبوا فيه الحقائق، ونزلوا الحق على الباطل، وجحدوا لذلك الحق، وأما حالهم في العمل والانقياد فإنهم { يَقُولون سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا } أي: سمعنا قولك وعصينا أمرك، وهذا غاية الكفر والعناد والشرود عن الانقياد، وكذلك يخاطبون الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم بأقبح خطاب وأبعده عن الأدب فيقولون: { اسْمَعْ غَيْرَ مُسْمَعٍ } قصدهم: اسمع منا غير مسمع ما تحب، بل مسمع ما تكره، { وَرَاعِنَا } قصدهم بذلك الرعونة، بالعيب القبيح، ويظنون أن اللفظ -لما كان محتملا لغير ما أرادوا من الأمور- أنه يروج على الله وعلى رسوله، فتوصلوا بذلك اللفظِ الذي يلوون به ألسنتهم إلى الطعن في الدين والعيب للرسول، ويصرحون بذلك فيما بينهم، فلهذا قال: { لَيًّا بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَطَعْنًا فِي الدِّينِ } ثم أرشدهم إلى ما هو خير لهم من ذلك فقال: { وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَاسْمَعْ وَانْظُرْنَا لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُمْ وَأَقْوَمَ } وذلك لما تضمنه هذا الكلام من حسن الخطاب والأدب اللائق في مخاطبة الرسول، والدخول تحت طاعة الله والانقياد لأمره، وحسن التلطف في طلبهم العلم بسماع سؤالهم، والاعتناء بأمرهم، فهذا هو الذي ينبغي لهم سلوكه. ولكن لما كانت طبائعهم غير زكية، أعرضوا عن ذلك، وطردهم الله بكفرهم وعنادهم، ولهذا قال: { وَلَكِنْ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا }

ثم قال تعالى "من الذين هادوا" من في هذا لبيان الجنس كقوله"فاجتنبوا الرجس من الأوثان" وقوله يحرفون الكلم عن مواضعه أي يتأولونه على غير تأويله ويفسرونه بغير مراد الله عز وجل قصدا منهم وافتراء"ويقولون سمعنا" أي سمعنا ما قلته يا محمد ولا نطيعك فيه هكذا فسره مجاهد وابن زيد وهو المراد وهذا أبلغ في كفرهم وعنادهم وأنهم يتولون عن كتاب اللّه بعدما عقلوه وهم يعلمون ما عليهم في ذلك من الإثم والعقوبة وقولهم"واسمع غير مسمع" أي اسمع ما نقول لا سمعت رواه الضحاك عن ابن عباس وقال مجاهد والحسن: واسمع غير مقبول منك قال ابن جرير: والأول أصح وهو كما قال وهذا استهزاء منهم واستهتار عليهم لعنة اللّه "وراعنا ليا بألسنتهم وطعنا في الدين" أي يوهمون أنهم يقولون راعنا سمعك بقولهم "راعنا وإنما يريدون الرعونة" بسبهم النبي وقد تقدم الكلام على هذا عند قوله "يا أيها الذين آمنوا لا تقولوا راعنا وقولوا انظرنا" ولهذا قال تعالى عن هؤلاء اليهود الذين يريدون بكلامهم خلاف ما يظهرونه ليا بألسنتهم وطعنا في الدين يعني بسبهم النبي صلى الله عله وسلم ثم قال تعالى "ولو أنهم قالوا سمعنا وأطعنا واسمع وانظرنا لكان خيرا لهم وأقوم ولكن لعنهم اللّه بكفرهم فلا يؤمنون إلا قليلا" أي قلوبهم مطرودة عن الخير مبعدة منه فلا يدخلها من الإيمان شيء نافع لهم وقد تقدم الكلام على قوله تعالى "فقليلا ما يؤمنون" والمقصود أنهم لا يؤمنون إيمانا نافعا.

Chastising the Jews for Choosing Misguidance, Altering Allah's Words, and Mocking Islam

Allah states that the Jews, may Allah's continued curse fall on them until the Day of Resurrection, have purchased the wrong path instead of guidance, and ignored what Allah sent down to His Messenger Muhammad . They also ignored the knowledge that they inherited from previous Prophets, about the description of Muhammad ﷺ, so that they may have a small amount of the delights of this life.

وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن تَضِلُّواْ السَّبِيلَ

(and wishing that you should go astray from the right path.) for they would like that you disbelieve in what was sent down to you, O believers, and that you abandon the guidance and beneficial knowledge that you have.

وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِأَعْدَائِكُمْ

(Allah has full knowledge of your enemies) meaning, Allah has better knowledge of your enemies, and He warns you against them.

وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ وَلِيّاً وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ نَصِيراً

(and Allah is sufficient as a Wali (Protector), and Allah is Sufficient as a Helper) He is a Sufficient Protector for those who seek refuge with Him and a Sufficient Supporter for those who seek His help. Allah then said,

يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِ

(there are some who displace words from (their) right places) meaning, they intentionally and falsely alter the meanings of the Words of Allah and explain them in a different manner than what Allah meant,

وَيَقُولُونَ سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا

(And say: "We hear your word and disobey) saying, "We hear what you say, O Muhammad, but we do not obey you in it," as Mujahid and Ibn Zayd explained. This is the implied meaning of the Ayah, and it demonstrates the Jews' disbelief, stubbornness and disregard for Allah's Book after they understood it, all the while aware of the sin and punishment that this behavior will earn for them. Allah's statement,

وَاسْمَعْ غَيْرَ مُسْمَعٍ

(And "Hear and let you hear nothing.") means, hear our words, may you never hear anything, as Ad-Dahhak reported from Ibn `Abbas. This is the Jews' way of mocking and jesting, may Allah's curse descend on them.

وَرَعِنَا لَيّاً بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَطَعْناً فِى الدِّينِ

(And Ra`ina, with a twist of their tongues and as a mockery of the religion.) meaning, they pretend to say, `Hear us,' when they say, Ra`ina (an insult in Hebrew, but in Arabic it means `Listen to us.').' Yet, their true aim is to curse the Prophet . We mentioned this subject when we explained Allah's statement,

يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لاَ تَقُولُواْ رَعِنَا وَقُولُواْ انظُرْنَا

(O you who believe! Say not Ra`ina but say Unzurna (make us understand)). Therefore, Allah said about them, while they pretend to say other than what they truly mean,

لَيّاً بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَطَعْناً فِى الدِّينِ

(With a twist of their tongues and as a mockery of the religion) because of their cursing the Prophet . Allah then said,

وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ قَالُواْ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَاسْمَعْ وَانْظُرْنَا لَكَانَ خَيْراً لَّهُمْ وَأَقْوَمَ وَلَكِن لَّعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَلاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً

(And if only they had said: "We hear and obey", and "Do make us understand," it would have been better for them, and more proper; but Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not except a few.) meaning, their hearts are cast away from the path of righteousness and therefore, no beneficial part of faith enters it. Earlier, when we explained,

فَقَلِيلاً مَّا يُؤْمِنُونَ

(so little is that which they believe) which means they do not have beneficial faith.

Some group from among the Jews distort alter the words that God revealed in the Torah pertaining to the descriptions of Muhammad (s) from their contexts those contexts in which they were placed and they say to the Prophet s when he commands them something ‘We have heard your words and we disobey your command; and hear as one who does not hear’ wa’sma‘ ghayr musma‘in is a circumstantial qualifier functioning as an invocation in other words ‘And may you not hear!’ and they say to him ‘Mind us’ rā‘inā a term with which it had been forbidden to address him being a curse word in their language; twisting distorting with their tongues and slandering defaming religion Islam. If they had said ‘We have heard and obey’ instead of ‘And we disobey’ and only ‘Hear’ and ‘Consider us’ unzur ilaynā instead of rā‘inā it would have been better for them than what they said and more upright more just than that but God has cursed them removing them from His mercy for their unbelief so they believe not except a few among them such as ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions.

The present verses take up the matter of dealings with enemies. It brings into sharp focus the wicked tricks, in word and deed, as practiced by the Jews, and then gives a view of what is true and correct. This last aspect is in a way an exhortation to Muslims that they should be careful in choosing the words they use to say what they have to say, for mincing words is not their style.

In the previous verse (46), there was a description of the Jewish stance against Islam which ranged from flat denial to laboured falsification, something born out of the desire to misrepresent, alter and ridicule. The present verse addresses them directly and commands them to believe in the final revelation and demonstrate their confirmation. Should they continue ignoring the warning and remain hostile, they should really be concerned with the chilling prospects of what their fate would be as a consequence of their ill choice.