5:71 Al-Maaida (The Table)

{ وَحَسِبُوا أَلَّا تَكُونَ فِتْنَةٌ ْ} أي: ظنوا أن معصيتهم وتكذيبهم لا يجر عليهم عذابا ولا عقوبة، فاستمروا على باطلهم. { فَعَمُوا وَصَمُّوا ْ} عن الحق { ثُمَّ ْ} نعشهم و { تاب الله عَلَيْهِمْ ْ} حين تابوا إليه وأنابوا { ثُمَّ ْ} لم يستمروا على ذلك حتى انقلب أكثرهم إلى الحال القبيحة. { فعَمُوا وَصَمُّوا كَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ ْ} بهذا الوصف، والقليل استمروا على توبتهم وإيمانهم. { وَاللَّهُ بَصِيرٌ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ ْ} فيجازي كل عامل بعمله، إن خيرا فخير وإن شرا فشر.

قال تعالى "وحسبوا أن لا تكون فتنة " أي وحسبوا أن لا يترتب لهم شر على ما صنعوا فترتب وهو أنهم عموا عن الحق وصموا فلا يسمعون حقا ولا يهتدون إليه ثم" تاب الله عليهم" أي مما كانوا فيه ثم عموا وصموا أي بعد ذلك كثير منهم" والله بصير بما يعملون" أى مطلع عليهم وعليم بمن يستحق الهداية ممن يستحق الغواية منهم.

كُلَّمَا جَآءَهُمْ رَسُولٌ بِمَا لاَ تَهْوَى أَنفُسُهُمْ فَرِيقاً كَذَّبُواْ وَفَرِيقاً يَقْتُلُونَوَحَسِبُواْ أَلاَّ تَكُونَ فِتْنَةٌ فَعَمُواْ وَصَمُّواْ

(Whenever there came to them a Messenger with what they themselves desired not - a group of them they called liars, and others among them they killed. They thought there will be no Fitnah (trial or punishment) so they became blind and deaf.) thinking that they would suffer no repercussions for of the evil that they committed. Consequently, they were blinded from the truth and became deaf, incapable of hearing the truth. For these reasons they were unable to be guided by it. Allah forgave that, then,

وَصَمُّواْ ثُمَّ

(yet they became blind and deaf) again,

كَثِيرٌ مِّنْهُمْ وَاللَّهُ بَصِيرٌ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ

(many of them, and Allah is the All-Seer of what they do.) He has perfect knowledge of what they do and whomever among them deserves the guidance and whomever deserves misguidance.

And they thought they presumed that there would be no read as an lā takūnu where an has been softened; or read an lā takūna where it an requires a following subjunctive that is to say ‘that there would not befall them’ trial a punishment against them for their denial of the messengers and their slaying of them; and so they were wilfully blind to the truth and could not see it and deaf unable to hear it. Then God relented to them when they repented then they were wilfully blind and deaf a second time many of them kathīrun minhum substitutes for the third person ‘they’; and God sees what they do and will requite them for it.

Commentary

This is an account of how the Bani Isra'il kept breaking the pledge taken from them. As said in verse 70, whenever their Messenger brought a command which did not suit their fancy, they would break their pledge and go about betraying Allah to the limit that they would falsify His Messengers, even kill some of them. They were commanded ` to believe in Allah and act righteously.' But, this was what they did in response. As for the other part of the command - ` Belief in the Last Day' their behaviour was equally reckless. After having committed acts so oppressive, they became totally carefree as if they would not have to pay for what they had done and as if the consequences of their injustice and rebellion will never come out in the open. Under this false impression, they became totally blind and deaf to Divine signs and words. They went on doing what should have not been done. So much so that they killed some prophets and put some others behind bars. Finally, Almighty Allah imposed on them the mastery of Nebuchadnezzar (King of Babylonia, 605-562 B.C., who took them as slaves to Babylon - Old Testament, book of Daniel). When, after a long time, they were sent back to Jerusalem from Babylon through help from some Persian kings who secured their release from disgrace under Nebuchadnezzar, they repented and turned to making amends. Allah relented and accepted their repentance. But, with the passage of some time, they went back to their old practices which made them so blind and deaf once again that they dared killing Sayyi.dna Zakariyah (علیہ السلام) (Zechariah) and Sayyidna Yahya (John) and were all set to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus ). (Tafsir Usmani - Notes)