His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

"Or were you witnesses when death approached Jacob, when he said to his sons, 'What will you worship after me?' They said, 'We will worship your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac, one God, and we are Muslims to Him.'"

"That is a nation that has passed; for it is what they earned, and for you is what you have earned, and you will not be asked about what they used to do."

"And they said, 'Be Jews or Christians, and you will be guided.' Say, 'Rather, the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth; and he was not of the polytheists.'"

This address is to the Jews and Christians who claimed the prophets, blessings of Allah be upon them, and attributed them to Judaism and Christianity. Allah, exalted is He, refuted them and informed them that they were upon the Hanifiyyah and Islam. He said to them - in a manner of reprimand and reproach -: 'Did you witness Jacob, and did you know what he bequeathed, so you claim based on knowledge?' Meaning: You did not witness, rather you are fabricating. And 'Or' can mean the interrogative 'alif' at the beginning of the speech, a Yemeni language. Al-Tabari narrated that 'Or' is understood in the middle of a speech that has preceded its beginning, and this is one of them, and from it: "Or do they say, 'He invented it'?" [Yunus: 38] And some said: 'Or' means 'rather,' and the meaning is: 'Rather, your ancestors witnessed Jacob, and you knew from them what he bequeathed, but you disbelieved in denial, and you attributed them to other than the Hanifiyyah in obstinacy.'

And it is more apparent that it means both 'rather' and the interrogative 'alif' together. And 'witnesses' is the plural of 'witness,' meaning present. And the meaning of the verse is: Jacob was present at the approach of death, otherwise if death had approached, he would not have been able to say anything. And 'Jacob' was mentioned first in the context of prioritizing the more important, and the operative word in 'when' is 'witnesses.' And 'when he said' is a substitute for the first 'when,' and he expressed the deity with 'what' as a test for them, and he did not say: 'from' so that it would not lead them to guidance. Rather, he intended to test them, and also the deities commonly known besides Allah, exalted is He, are inanimate things like idols, fire, the sun, and stones. So he asked them about what they worship from these, and 'after me' means after my death. It has been narrated that when Jacob was given a choice, as prophets are given a choice, he chose death and said: 'Give me time until I bequeath to my sons and my family.' So he gathered them and said to them: 'This is what you should follow,' and 'They said, 'We will worship your God...' the verse, so they showed him their steadfastness in religion and their knowledge of Allah, exalted is He. And Ishmael was included among the fathers because he was an uncle. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said about Al-Abbas: 'Return to me my uncle, for I fear that Quraysh will do to him what Thaqif did to Urwah ibn Mas'ud.' And he said about him in another instance: 'This is the remnant of my forefathers.' And from him is his saying, peace be upon him: 'I am the son of the two who were sacrificed,' according to the famous saying that Isaac is the sacrificed one. And Al-Hasan, Ibn Ya'mur, Al-Jahdari, and Abu Rujayh read: 'And the God of your father.' And later there was disagreement, and it was said: it is a singular name intended for Abraham alone, and some said: it is a plural of soundness. Sibawayh narrated: 'Father' and 'fathers' and 'two fathers.' The poet said:

'When our voices became clear, they cried, and we redeemed ourselves with our fathers.'

Ibn Zayd said: It is said that Isma'il came because he was older than Ishaq. And "Ilah" is a substitute for "Ilahaka," and he repeated it for the benefit of the attribute of oneness.

It is said that "Ilahan" is an adverbial state. This is a good saying because the aim is to affirm the state of oneness. "And we are Muslims to Him" is a beginning and a report, meaning: Thus we were and we will be. It is possible that it is in the position of an adverbial state, and the doer is "we worship," and the first interpretation is more praiseworthy.

And His saying, "Certainly, [the previous nations] have passed away," is in the position of raising a description for a nation. Its meaning is: They died and became empty of the earth. By "nation," He means the mentioned prophets. The addressees in this verse are the Jews and Christians, meaning: You, O those who attribute them to Judaism and Christianity, that will not benefit you, because every soul has what it has earned of good and evil. Their good will not benefit you if you have earned evil. And in this verse is a refutation of the Jabriyyah who say: There is no earning for the servant. "And you will not be asked about what they used to do" so that you may absolve them of religion.

And their saying: "Be Jews or Christians, and you will be guided" is similar to their saying: "No one will enter Paradise except one who is a Jew or a Christian."

And "Millah" is in the accusative case due to an implied verb, meaning: Rather, we follow the Millah. It is said that it is in the accusative case for encouragement. Al-A'raj and Ibn Abi Abla read: "Rather, the Millah" in the nominative case, and the estimation is: Rather, guidance is a Millah. And "Hanifan" is an adverbial state. It is said that it is in the accusative case due to an implied verb because the adverbial state is related to the one it is added to.

And "Hanif" means inclination, and from it is "al-Ahnaf" for one whose one foot inclines towards the other. The Hanif in religion is one who has turned away from the disliked religions to the truth. Some people said: Hanif means uprightness, and the one with crooked feet is called Ahnaf in optimism, just as it is said: Salim and Mafazah. The Hanif in religion is the one who is upright in all the obedience of Allah, glorified and exalted is He. Some of the interpreters specified it, saying: Some said the Hanif is the pilgrim, and others said it is the circumcised, and these are parts of Hanif. And He negated polytheism from him, so the worship of idols and Judaism is negated due to their saying: Uzair is the son of Allah, and Christianity is negated due to their saying: The Messiah is the son of Allah.