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

Tafsir of 'Lam Yakun'

And it is Meccan according to the saying of the majority of the commentators. Ibn al-Zubair said, and the first is more famous.

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿Those who disbelieved among the People of the Book and the polytheists were not to be separated until the clear proof came to them﴾ ﴿A Messenger from Allah reciting purified pages﴾ ﴿In them are valuable writings﴾ ﴿And those who were given the Scripture did not become divided except after the clear proof had come to them﴾ ﴿And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, making religion sincere for Him, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and to give zakah. And that is the correct religion﴾.

And in the reading of Ubayy ibn Ka'b: "What was those who..." And in the readings of Ibn Mas'ud: [Those who disbelieved among the polytheists and the People of the Book were not to be separated]. And His saying, exalted is He: "were not to be separated," its meaning is to be separated and divided. You say: "The thing separated from the thing" if it has been detached from it. And "was not separated" which is from the sisters of "was" has no place in this verse. And this verse negates that this action was separated.

And the people differed, about what? Mujahid and others said: They were not to be separated from disbelief and misguidance until the clear proof came to them. And the future tense is placed in the position of the past in "comes to them" because the remaining of the Shari'ah and its greatness had not yet been intended. And Al-Farra and others said: They were not to be separated from knowing the truth of the Prophethood of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and waiting for his matter until the clear proof came to them, and they then separated at that time. And some grammarians went to this previous negation with "were not to be separated" making it that which is with "was," and they see the estimation in its news: knowing the matter of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, or something like this. And there is a third opinion that is brilliant in meaning, and that is that it is intended: These people were not to be separated from the command of Allah, exalted is He, and His power and His gaze upon them until He sent to them a warning Messenger, upon whom the proof would be established, and the blessing would be completed upon whoever believed. So it is as if He, exalted is He, said: They would not be left without guidance, and for this there are parallels in the Book of Allah, exalted is He. And some people read: "and the polytheists" in the nominative, and the majority read: [and the polytheists] in the accusative, and their meanings are clear.

'The clear proof' means: the clear and evident story, and the intended meaning is Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. The majority read: 'a Messenger' in the nominative case, while Ubayy ibn Ka'b read: 'a Messenger' in the accusative case as a status. And 'the purified scrolls' refers to the Qur'an in its scrolls, as said by Al-Dhahhak and Qatadah. Al-Hasan said: the purified scrolls are in the heavens. And His saying, the Exalted: 'In them are valuable writings' has an omitted addition, its estimation being: in them are rulings of valuable writings. And 'valuable' means: upright and just, taking people with justice. This is a form of exaggeration. So, 'valuable' refers to the mention of those who believed from the two groups. Then the Exalted mentioned the blame of those who did not believe from the People of the Book of the Children of Israel, that they did not differ in the matter of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, except after they saw the clear signs. They had previously been applauding his prophethood and description, but when one from the Arabs came, they envied him. The majority of people read: 'sincerely' with a kasrah on the lam, while Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan read: 'sincerely' with a fathah on the lam. It seems that 'the religion' - according to this reading - is in the accusative case with 'they worship' or in a meaning that indicates it, as it is like a circumstance or status. There is a consideration in this. And it was said to Jesus, peace be upon him: who is sincere to Allah, the Exalted? He said: the one who does the deed for Allah, the Exalted, and does not like people to praise him for it. 'Hanif' is the plural of 'hanif', which means the upright one who inclines towards the path of goodness. Ibn Jubair said: the Arabs do not call anyone hanif except one who has performed Hajj and been circumcised. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 'Hanif' means Muslim pilgrims. And 'hanif' is in the accusative case as a status. The mention of zakah along with prayer in this verse, with the mention of the Children of Israel in it, strengthens the statement of those who said: 'the surah is Medinan; because zakah was only made obligatory in Medina, and because the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, only addressed the contradictions of the People of the Book in Medina. The majority read: 'and that is the religion of the upright' meaning: the upright community, or the upright group. Muhammad ibn Al-Ash'ath Al-Talqi said: 'the upright' here refers to the books that have been mentioned. Some people read: 'and that is the religion of the upright', so the 'he' in 'the upright' - according to this reading - is a form of exaggeration like 'the scholar' and 'the genealogist', and this also indicates that 'the religion' is like the denomination.