'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿And let there be from you a community that calls to goodness and enjoins what is right and forbids what is wrong. And those are the successful.﴾ ﴿And do not be like those who divided and disagreed after the clear proofs had come to them. And they will have a great punishment.﴾

Al-Hasan, Al-Zuhri, Abu Abd al-Rahman, Isa ibn Umar, and Abu Haywah read: "And let there be" with a kasra on the lam, based on the original, as its origin is a kasra. Likewise, they read the lam of command in all of the Qur'an.

(p-310) Al-Dahhak, Al-Tabari, and others said: The believers were commanded that there should be among them a group with this description. They are specifically the companions of the Messenger, and they are specifically the narrators.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

So according to this saying, "from" is for part of it. And Allah commanded the community to have among them scholars who perform these actions in their entirety, and they preserve its laws perfectly. And the rest of the community should follow those, as these actions cannot be done except with vast knowledge. And He, exalted is He, knew that not everyone would be knowledgeable. Al-Zajjaj and others among the interpreters went to the meaning: And let you all be a community that calls. And "from" is for indicating the type. He said: And similar to it from the Book of Allah is ﴿So avoid the abomination of idols﴾ [Al-Hajj: 30]. And similar to it from poetry is the saying of the poet:

؎ A brother of desires gives them and is asked for them, he refuses the darkness from him, the noble ones.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this verse, according to this interpretation, is for me like your saying: Let there be from you a righteous man. So in it is the meaning that the grammarians call "the abstraction." And note that the meaning which is the beginning of the goal enters into it. Likewise, it enters into His saying, exalted is He: "from the idols." And you do not find it entering into the poet's saying: "from him the noble ones," nor do you find it entering into "from" which is a clear indication of the type, like your saying: A garment of silk, and a ring of silver. Rather, this opposes the meaning of part of it. And the meaning of the verse according to this interpretation is: The command of the community to call all the world to goodness, the disbelievers to Islam, and the sinners to obedience, and each one of these matters should be according to his level of knowledge and ability. The scholars said: And Allah made obligatory by this verse the command to what is right and the prohibition of what is wrong, and it is from the obligations of communal responsibility. If a person fulfills it, it is lifted from others. And for the obligation of the command to what is right, there are conditions, among them that it should be done in a good manner, not in a harsh way. For indeed, he, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever commands what is right, let his command be in a good manner." And among them is that the one commanding should not fear harm that may befall him. If he does so, it is greater for his reward. And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever among you sees a wrong, let him change it with his hand. If he is not able, then with his tongue. If he is not able, then with his heart, and that is the weakest of faith."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the people in changing the wrong and enjoining the good are on ranks. The obligation of the scholars in this is to alert the rulers and governors, and to guide them on the path of knowledge. The obligation of the governors is to change it by their power and authority, for them: it is the hand. The obligation of the rest of the people is to raise it to the rulers and governors after forbidding it verbally. This is in the case of the wrong that has continuity. As for if someone sees an immediate incident of wrong, such as theft or adultery and the like, he should change it himself according to the situation and ability. It is good for every believer to endure in changing the wrong even if he suffers some harm. This stance is supported by the reading of 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, Ibn Mas'ud, and Ibn al-Zubayr: "They enjoin the good and forbid the wrong, and they seek help from Allah regarding what has befallen them." Although this was not established in the Mushaf, it indicates the exposure to what befalls after the command and prohibition, as is in His saying, the Most High:

﴿And enjoin the good and forbid the wrong and be patient regarding what has befallen you﴾ [Luqman: 17], and His saying, the Most High: ﴿O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 105]. Its meaning is: if it is not accepted from you and you cannot change a wrong. Some scholars said: the good is the oneness of Allah, and the wrong is disbelief, and the verse was revealed regarding jihad.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And there is no doubt that the oneness of Allah and disbelief are the two main matters. However, what descends from the degree of oneness and disbelief enters into the verse and must be included.

And "the successful" are those who achieve their goal, and this is a noble promise.

Then Allah, the Most High, forbade this nation from being like the divided ones among the nations.

The interpreters differed in what is referred to by them. Ibn Abbas said: it refers to everyone who has divided in the nations in religion, and division has destroyed them. Al-Hasan said: it refers to the Jews and Christians. Al-Zajjaj said: it is also possible that the reference is to the sects of the Jews and the sects of the Christians. The coming of the clear signs is by sending the messengers and revealing the books. The action was attributed without a sign to the clear signs as it descended in the status of clarification, and from where there is no reality to its feminine form. The rest of the verse is a warning.

And His saying: ﴿A great punishment﴾ means that it is greater than others, and these two attributes differ in that one of them is interspersed with a pause. As for the individual part of this and that, it is equal. This is the clarification of the doctrine of our foundational scholars, may Allah have mercy on them.