'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' He, exalted and glorified is He, said: "O People of the Book, why do you argue about Abraham, when the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed except after him? Do you not understand?" "Here you are, you argue about that of which you have knowledge. So why do you argue about that of which you have no knowledge? And Allah knows, while you do not know." The commentators have differed regarding who this verse was revealed about. Ibn Abbas said: "The Christians of Najran and the Jewish scholars gathered with the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and they disputed with him. The scholars said: 'Abraham was only a Jew,' and the Christians said: 'Abraham was only a Christian.' So Allah revealed the verse." Al-Suddi and Qatadah said, and Al-Tabari narrated from Mujahid and Qatadah as well that they said: "The verse was revealed because of the Jews' claim that he was one of them and that he died a Jew, and this saying was placed under a separate translation for him." The correct view is that all the interpreters have taken a single approach, and that the verse is about the Jews and Christians. The words of the verse indicate that. So how can anyone defend one of the two groups against that? This verse clarifies the invalidity of these claims, which cannot be compared to the establishment of conclusive evidence against them. They claimed for Abraham, the Friend, beliefs that did not exist on earth and were only found long after his death. Since the evidence is rational, Allah, exalted and glorified is He, reproached them by saying: "Do you not understand?" The readers have differed regarding His saying: "Here you are" in its elongation and hamzah, and its omission. Ibn Kathir read: "Hā antum" in the form of "Ha'antum." Nafi' and Abu Amr read: "Hān tum?" as a question without hamzah. The others read: "Hā antum" elongated and with hamzah. They did not differ in elongating "Hā'ulā'" and "Ulā'". The reason for Ibn Kathir's reading is that he replaced the hamzah of the question with the hā', intending: "Are you?" The reason for the reading of Nafi' and Abu Amr is one of two matters. It may be that the hā' which is for indication entered upon "antum"—and the indication is included in the sentence, as it is included in their saying: "Come here," and as the "O" which is for indication entered in His saying: "Should they not prostrate?" and in the poet's saying: "O may the curse of Allah be upon the children that come with them, the mother of Al-Hunayd from a branch that conceals." And the saying of the other: "O may the curse of Allah and all the nations be upon them and the righteous upon Sam'an from a neighbor."

And the hamzah in "you are" has been softened and is not realized after the alif, as they said in "habbā'ah": "habā'atan." It is permissible that the hā' in "hāntum" is a substitute for the hamzah of interrogation, as per the reading of Ibn Kathir. The alif may be the one that enters between the two hamzahs to separate between them. The reading of the others is "ha antum" with a hamzah that is prolonged, which accommodates the two ways that are in the reading of Nafi' and Abu 'Amr. They realized the hamzah that is after the alif, and they did not soften it as Abu 'Amr and Nafi' did. Whoever does not see the addition of the alif for the separation between the two hamzahs as Abu 'Amr sees it, then it should be that the hā' in his saying is for the indication, and it is not a substitute for the hamzah of interrogation. As for "these," there are two dialects in it, elongation and shortening, and both have been combined by the verse of Al-A'sha in some narrations:

These, then these, have given me *** Shoes made with shoes.

As for the parsing of: "ha antum these," it is a subject and a predicate, and "you argued" is in the position of the حال and cannot be dispensed with. It is like His saying, the Most High: ﴿Then you are these who kill﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 85]. It is possible that "these" is a substitute or an adjective, and the predicate is "you argued." According to the view of the Kufans, "you argued" is a relative clause for "these," and the predicate is in His saying: "So why do you argue?"

And the meaning of His saying, the Most High: ﴿In what you have knowledge of﴾ is on your claim. The meaning is in what your claims resemble, and the rational evidence does not refute you. Al-Tabari interpreted this place as being in what they have knowledge of from their books and reports, from what they are certain of and its correctness has been established with them. And it has been said, may Allah have mercy on him, that what is like this does not require an argument with them, because they find it with Muhammad ﷺ, as it was there in its reality, and the rest of the verse is clear.