'His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "And recite to them the news of the two sons of Adam in truth, when they both offered a sacrifice and it was accepted from one of them, but it was not accepted from the other. He said, 'I will surely kill you.' The other said, 'Indeed, Allah only accepts from the righteous.'" "If you extend your hand to kill me, I will not extend my hand to kill you. Indeed, I fear Allah, Lord of the worlds." "Indeed, I want you to obtain thereby my sin and your sin, so you will be among the companions of the Fire, and that is the recompense of the wrongdoers." "And recite"; its meaning is: narrate; and make them hear it; and this is from the knowledge of the earlier scriptures that has no connection to Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - except through revelation; for it is one of the signs of his prophethood - blessings and peace be upon him -; and the pronoun in "to them" clearly refers to the Children of Israel for two reasons: one of them is that the discourse in what has preceded is indeed about them; and the establishment of proof against them due to their concern with extending the hand to Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him -; and the second is that the knowledge of the news of the two sons of Adam is indeed with them; and in the obscure parts of their scriptures; and upon them is the proof in its mention; and the news is: the report; and the two sons of Adam are - according to the majority of the interpreters - from his loins; and they are "Qabil" and "Habil"; and Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan Al-Basri said: the two sons of Adam are not from his loins; and the sacrifices were not except among the Children of Israel.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is an illusion; how could anyone from the Children of Israel be ignorant of the manner of burial to the extent that he would follow the crow? The correct statement is that of the majority; it has been narrated that their offering was merely an act of piety and voluntary; and that Qabil was the owner of crops; so he took the worst of what he had and the least of it; and he offered it; while Habil was the owner of sheep; so he took the best of his rams and offered it; and the custom at that time was that the one offering would present his sacrifice and stand (p-145) and pray; and prostrate; if fire descended and consumed the sacrifice, that would be a sign of acceptance; otherwise, leaving it would be a sign of rejection; so when these two offered as I have mentioned; fire descended and took Habil's ram; it lifted it up; and concealed it from the eyes; and left Qabil's crops; Sa'id ibn Jubayr said: That ram grazed in Paradise; until it was brought down to Ibrahim as a ransom for his son; the narrators of this story said: So Qabil envied Habil; and said to him: Do you walk on the earth while people see you as better than me? And Qabil was the eldest son of Adam; it has been narrated that Adam traveled to Makkah to see the Ka'bah; and left Qabil as a guardian over his children; so this story occurred during his absence; and a group of the interpreters - among them Ibn Mas'ud - narrated that the reason for this offering was that Hawwa gave birth to a male and a female in every pregnancy; so the male would marry the female of the other pregnancy; and his twin sister was not lawful for him; so a beautiful sister was born with Qabil; and a sister who was not like that was born with Habil; so when Adam wanted to marry them, Qabil said: I have more right to my sister; and Adam commanded him; but he did not comply; so they agreed on the offering; and it has been narrated that Adam was present at that; so Habil's offering was accepted; and it was obligatory for him to take Qabil's sister; at that time he said to him: 'I will surely kill you'; and Habil's saying: ﴿Indeed, Allah only accepts from the righteous﴾; there is a statement before it that is omitted; its meaning is: 'And why do you want to kill me while I have not committed anything; and I have no sin in the acceptance of Allah of my offering? Indeed, I fear Him; and you are to me the most beloved of creation; and indeed, Allah only accepts from the righteous.' The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And the consensus of the people of the Sunnah regarding the meaning of these words is that it is avoidance of polytheism; so whoever avoids it while being a monotheist, his deeds in which his intention is sincere are accepted; and as for the one who avoids polytheism and sins, he has the highest rank of acceptance; and the certainty of mercy; this is known by the informing of Allah, the Exalted; not that this is obligatory upon Allah, the Exalted, by reason; and 'Adi ibn Thabit and others said: The offering of the righteous of this nation is prayer. And people differed: Why did Habil say: ﴿I am not one to extend my hand to you to kill you﴾? Mujahid said: The obligation upon them at that time was that no one should draw a sword; and that the one who was intended to be killed should not resist; and Abdullah ibn Amr and the majority of people said: Habil was stronger than Qabil; but he refrained.

(p-146) The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is the clearer view; and from here it is strengthened that Qabil is indeed a sinner, not a disbeliever; because if he were a disbeliever, there would be no reason for his reluctance; and the reason for this reluctance is that the one who is reluctant refuses to fight a monotheist; and he is content to be wronged in order to be rewarded in the Hereafter; and in this manner, Uthman ibn Affan - may Allah be pleased with him - acted.

And his saying: ﴿Indeed, I want you to bear my sin and your sin﴾; this verse; this is not a desire of love and passion; rather, it is a choice between two evils; as the Arabs say: "In evil, there is a choice"; the meaning is: "If you kill me; and this is a predetermined decree; my choice is to be wronged, and Allah will support me in the Hereafter"; and "you bear"; its meaning is: "you proceed bearing"; and his saying: ﴿my sin and your sin﴾; it is said: its meaning is: by the sin of my killing; and all of your sins which necessitated that it not be accepted from you; and it is said: the meaning is: by the sin of my killing; and your sin in enmity against me; for he is sinful in enmity and the intention to kill; even if he did not carry out the killing; and it is said: the meaning is: "by my sin if I were to fight you and kill you; and your sin in fighting me; and my killing."

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is the sin that is necessitated by the saying of the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -: "When two Muslims meet with their swords; the killer and the killed are in the Fire"; it was said: O Messenger of Allah; this is the killer; what about the killed? He said: "Indeed, he was eager to kill his companion"; so it is as if Habil wanted to say: "I am not eager to kill you; the sin that would befall me if I were eager to kill you, I want you to bear it; along with your sin in killing me."

And it is said: the meaning is: "by my sin that is specific to me in what I have neglected"; meaning: "some of my sins will be taken and placed upon you because of your wrongdoing to me; so you bear the sin of yours in killing me"; and this interpretation is supported by the saying of the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -: "The oppressor and the oppressed will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection; and some of the oppressor's good deeds will be taken and added to the good deeds of the oppressed; until he is avenged; and if he has no good deeds, some of the oppressed's sins will be taken and placed upon him."

(p-147) And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And that is the reward of the wrongdoers﴾; it is possible that this is from the words of Habil to his brother; and it is possible that it is a notification from Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, to Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him.