His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "They distort the words from their proper places, saying, 'If you are given this, then take it; but if you are not given it, beware.' And whoever Allah intends to test, you will never have for him any protection from Allah. Those are the ones whom Allah does not intend to purify their hearts. For them in this world is disgrace, and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment." [Al-Ma'idah: 41] "Eager listeners to falsehood, greedy eaters of unlawful gain. So if they come to you, judge between them or turn away from them."

The majority of the people read: "the words"; with a fatha on the kaf and a kasra on the lam; and some people read: "the word"; with a kasra on the kaf and a sukoon on the lam; and this is a weak language in "word."

And His saying, the Exalted: "They distort the words" [Al-Ma'idah: 41]; is a description of the Jews regarding what they distorted from the Torah; for that was the most serious matter they distorted; and it is possible that it is a description for them and for the hypocrites regarding what they distort from the sayings in their lies; because the principles of their lies must be from things that were said or done; and this is the beautified lie that is close to being accepted; whereas the lie that is not supported by a principle has little effect on souls.

And His saying: "from their proper places" [Al-Ma'idah: 41] means: "after it has been placed in its proper places; and its intended meanings are the upright ones;" and the reference here is said to be to the punishment and flogging in adultery; and it is said to be to the acceptance of blood money in the case of murder; and it is said to be to maintaining the honor of Banu Nadir over Banu Qurayzah; and this is according to the previous disagreement in the verse.

Then He, the Exalted, said to His Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - in a manner of cutting off hope in them: "And whoever Allah intends to test, you will never have for him any protection from Allah" [Al-Ma'idah: 41]; meaning: do not follow their affair; and the test here is the trial of disbelief; and the punishment in the Hereafter; then He informed that they are the ones whom it has been decreed in the knowledge of Allah that He does not intend to purify their hearts; and that they will be defiled by disbelief; then He affirmed for them disgrace in this world; and the meaning is: by humiliation; and the misery that has been imposed upon them in the corners of the earth; and in every nation; and He affirmed for them punishment in the Hereafter due to their disbelief.

And His saying: "Eager listeners to falsehood" [Al-Ma'idah: 41]; if the first refers to the Children of Israel; then this is a repetition for emphasis and exaggeration; and if the first refers to the hypocrites; then this is also news about the Children of Israel.

And His saying, the Exalted: "greedy eaters of unlawful gain"; "greedy" is a form of exaggeration; meaning: their eating of it is repeated and abundant; and unlawful gain is everything that is not permissible to earn from wealth; and Nafi', Ibn 'Amir, 'Asim, and Hamzah read: "the unlawful gain"; with the ha being silent; lightly; and Ibn Kathir, Abu 'Amr, and Al-Kisai read: "the unlawful gain"; with the ha being pronounced; heavily; and it has been narrated from Khariyah ibn Mus'ab from Nafi' that he read: "the unlawful gain"; with a kasra on the seen and a sukoon on the ha; and the term is derived from their saying: "he made unlawful"; and "he made it unlawful": if he eradicated and took away; and from the trilateral form is His saying: "So He will make you perish with punishment" [Ta-Ha: 61]; and from the quadrilateral form is the saying of Al-Farazdaq:

And al-suhṭ; and al-suhṭ - with a damm on the sīn and a softened ḥā'; and with a heavy ḥā' - are two languages in the name of the thing (p-171) al-masḥūt; and al-suhṭ - with a fatḥ on the sīn; and a sukoon on the ḥā' - is the source; it was named by it al-masḥūt; just as al-maṣīd was named 'ṣaydā' in His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: ﴿Do not kill the game while you are in a state of ihrām﴾ [Al-Mā'idah: 95]; and just as al-marḥūn was named 'rahnā'; and this is abundant.

Qāḍī Abū Muḥammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: So the forbidden wealth was named suhṭ because it goes away; and calamities eradicate it; as he - blessings and peace be upon him - said: "Whoever acquires wealth from unlawful means, Allah will cause him to lose it in poverty." And Makkī said: The forbidden wealth was named 'suhṭ' because it goes away from where it erodes acts of obedience; meaning: it diminishes them little by little; and al-Mahdawī said: From where it erodes their religions.

Qāḍī Abū Muḥammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is rejected; because sins do not nullify good deeds; except if it is determined that it distracts from acts of obedience; then it is its suhṭ from where you do not act; but as for an existing act of obedience, this cannot be said about it; and al-Mahdawī said: The reward of the cupper was named 'suhṭ' because it erodes the honor of the one who takes it.

Qāḍī Abū Muḥammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is more similar.

Al-Ṭabarī said: The origin of suhṭ is the hunger of the stomach; it is said: "So-and-so is masḥūt al-maʿidah"; if he is never found except hungry; what is in his stomach goes away; so the one who bribes with it is from the greed of the ever-hungry; he never satisfies.

Qāḍī Abū Muḥammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is because bribery is eroding; so the meaning is as we have presented; and in the words of al-Ṭabarī there is some confusion; because masḥūt al-maʿidah is taken from eradication and going away; and it is not the hunger of (p-172) the greedy at all for suhṭ; and the suhṭ which is meant that the Jews eat is the bribe in judgments; and the endowments that are consumed; and the consumption of them is supported by false statements; and deceiving the public; and similar to this.

And Abū Hurayrah; and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib - may Allah be pleased with him - said: "The dowry of the prostitute is suhṭ; and the offspring of the male is suhṭ; and the earnings of the cupper are suhṭ; and the price of the dog and wine is suhṭ"; and Ibn Masʿūd said: "Suhṭ is to gift to you someone you have assisted in his need; or his right; and you accept." It was said to ʿAbd Allah: We did not consider suhṭ except the bribe in judgment; he said: "That is disbelief." And it has been narrated from Ibn Masʿūd; and a great number that suhṭ is the bribe in judgment; and it has been narrated from the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - that he said: "Every flesh that grows from suhṭ, the Fire is more deserving of it." It was said: O Messenger of Allah; and what is suhṭ? He said: "The bribe in judgment."

Qāḍī Abū Muḥammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And everything that has been mentioned in the meaning of suhṭ is examples; and among the greatest of them is the bribe in judgment; and the reward for killing a soul; and it is a term that encompasses every earning that is not lawful.

'And His saying, the Most High: "So if they come to you, judge between them or turn away from them"; it is a choice for the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - and for the rulers of his nation after him to judge between them if they agree in their disputes. And Ikrimah and Al-Hasan said: This choice is abrogated by His saying: "And judge between them by what Allah has revealed" [Al-Ma'idah: 49]. And Ibn Abbas and Mujahid said: Two verses from [Al-Ma'idah] were abrogated; His saying, the Most High: "And the sacrificial animals" [Al-Ma'idah: 97]; it was abrogated by the verse of the sword; and His saying: "or turn away from them"; it was abrogated by: "And judge between them by what Allah has revealed" [Al-Ma'idah: 49].

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: Many scholars said: It is definitive; the choice of the rulers remains; and this is the most apparent, if Allah wills.

The understanding of this verse is that the nation is agreed that the ruler of the Muslims judges between the people of [dhimmah] in cases of injustice; and he has authority over them in changing it; and he should not be deterred from its form as it occurred; so he changes that. Among the injustices is the withholding of sold goods; and the usurpation of wealth; and others. As for the disputes of rulings in which there is no injustice from one of them to the other; and they are merely plausible claims; and the request for what is lawful; and what is unlawful; and the request for a way out of sin in the Hereafter; these are the matters in which the judge is given a choice; and if the two disputants are satisfied with it, there must also be the satisfaction of the bishops or the scholars; this was stated by Ibn Al-Qasim in "Al-Utbiya"; he said: And if the bishops are satisfied without the two disputants; or the two disputants are satisfied without the bishops; then he does not have the right to judge.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And consider if the bishops are satisfied with the types of disputes among them without the satisfaction of the two disputants; for it is subject to disagreement; and consider if the two disputants are satisfied; and there is no objection from the scholars, and the judge ruled; then if the scholars wanted to reject that ruling; and do the disputes equal in this; like stoning for two adulterers; and the ruling in wealth that passes from one of them to the other? And consider if the two disputants are satisfied: is it upon the judge to inquire about what the scholars have, or to be content that no opposition occurred from them? And Malik - may Allah have mercy on him - prefers for the judge of the Muslims to turn away from them and leave them to their religion; and Ibn Abbas and Mujahid and others said: His saying, the Most High: "So if they come to you"; it means the people of the case of the two adulterers.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: Then the verse encompasses all disputes.