Or were you witnesses when Jacob was approaching death? That is, when he was in his final moments. The address is to the believers, meaning: you were not present when Jacob, peace be upon him, was near death. The term 'witnesses' refers to those who are present. Mahmoud, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 'The address here is to the believers, meaning you did not witness... etc.' Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, chose this interpretation to be connected. If it were taken as disconnected, like the first interpretation, the content of the speech would imply the denial of the witnesses among the addressed, who are the Jews, regarding Jacob's death and his will to submit to Islam. In that case, it would serve as an establishment of their argument against denying Islam and claiming that the prophets were not Muslims, which is contrary to that. The speech would necessitate denial then, because the questioning from Allah, the Most High, cannot be taken at face value; it must be directed towards denial, as the context requires it. Thus, it denies the witnessing of the Muslims regarding Jacob's death and his will in the first interpretation, especially since it is customary to address the Jews contemporary to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in the same manner as their ancestors, placing their knowledge and approval at the level of their presence and engagement, as in His saying: 'And when you killed a soul' and 'And when you said, O Moses,' and similar instances. If it is connected and the address is to the Jews, then the matter has proceeded in their address as is customary. If it is disconnected, the matter would be reversed. However, you have gained knowledge of it through revelation. It is said that the address is to the Jews because they used to claim: No prophet has died except in Judaism. However, if they had witnessed him and heard what he said to his sons and what they said, his eagerness for the religion of Islam would have been apparent to them, and they would not have claimed against him Judaism. Thus, the verse contradicts their claim. How can it be said to them: Or were you witnesses? Rather, it is appropriate that it be connected, assuming there is an omitted phrase before it, as if it were said: Do you claim against the prophets Judaism? Or were you witnesses when Jacob was near death? This means that your ancestors from the Children of Israel were present with him when he urged his sons towards monotheism and the religion of Islam, and you knew that. So why do you claim against the prophets that which they are innocent of? And it has been read as 'hadr' with a kasra on the dhad, which is a dialect. What do you worship? That is, what is it that you worship? The word 'what' is general in every matter. If you understand the distinction between 'what' and 'who,' it suffices as evidence for the scholars' saying that 'who' refers to those who have intellect. If it were said: Who do you worship? It would not include anyone but the scholars alone. It may also be said that 'What do you worship?' is a question about the nature of the object of worship, just as you would say: What about Zaid? You want to know: Is he a scholar, a doctor, or something else in terms of attributes? And Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac are appositive to your fathers. Ishmael, being his uncle, is included among his fathers because an uncle is like a father and an aunt is like a mother, as they are both part of the same lineage, which is brotherhood, with no distinction between them. From this is his saying, peace be upon him: 'A man's uncle is like his father.' There is no distinction between them, just as there is no distinction between the two branches of a date palm. And he, peace be upon him, said regarding Abbas: 'This is a remnant of my fathers.' And he said: 'Return my father to me, for I fear that Quraysh will do to him what Thaqif did to Urwah ibn Mas'ud.'

He called them to Allah, so they killed him. By Allah, if they ride it from him, it will harm them more than a fire. And Ubayy read: 'And the God of Ibrahim,' by dropping the names of your fathers. And it was read: 'your father.' In it are two aspects: that it may be singular and Ibrahim alone is an apposition to it, and that it may be plural with the waw and noon. He said: 'And We ransomed us with our fathers.' When our voices became clear... they cried out of compassion for us and mercy for us, and they ransomed us: that is, each one says: 'My father is a ransom for you,' or she says to her companion: 'My father is a ransom for you.' And 'our fathers' is the plural of father, declined as a regular plural. 'One God' is a substitute for the God of your fathers, as His saying: 'By the forelock, a lying forelock,' or it is for specification, meaning we want, by the God of your fathers, one God, and we are to Him Muslims, which is a state of the subject of 'we worship,' or of its object, for the pronoun returns to Him in 'to Him.' It is permissible that it be a sentence conjoined to 'we worship,' and that it be an interjected sentence confirming, meaning: and of our state is that we are to Him Muslims, sincere in monotheism or submissive.