Ibn Abbas said: "Whoever you trust with a qintar, it is Abdullah ibn Salam. A man from Quraysh entrusted him with twelve hundred uqiyyas of gold, and he returned it to him. And whoever you trust with a dinar, it is Nihas ibn Azurayah. A man from Quraysh entrusted him with a dinar, but he denied it and betrayed him. It is said that the trustworthy ones regarding much are the Christians, due to their predominance in trustworthiness. And the betrayers in little are the Jews, due to their predominance in betrayal, except as long as you remain upon it, O holder of the right, standing over it, relying upon it in demanding and reprimanding, or by raising it to the judge and establishing evidence against him. And it was read (yu'udihi) with a kasrah on the letter 'h' and connected, and with a kasrah without connection, and with a sukoon. Yahya ibn Wathab read: 'ta'manuhu' with a kasrah on the letter 't'. And 'dumta' with a kasrah on the letter 'd' from 'dam ya'dum'. That indicates the abandonment of the performance which was indicated by 'he did not perform it', meaning their abandonment of performing rights due to their saying: 'There is no way upon us concerning the unlettered.' That is, there is no reproach or blame upon us regarding the unlettered, meaning those who are not from the People of the Book. And what we have done to them of withholding their wealth and causing them harm, because they are not upon our religion. They used to deem it permissible to oppress those who opposed them and would say: 'He has not made for them in our Book any sanctity.' It is said that the Jews made a pact with men from Quraysh, and when they converted to Islam, they demanded from them, saying: 'You have no right over us since you have abandoned your religion,' and they claimed that they found that in their Book. And the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said upon its revelation: 'The enemies of Allah have lied; there is nothing in the days of ignorance except that it is beneath my feet, except for trustworthiness, for it is performed to the righteous and the wicked.' [Narrated by al-Tabari and Ibn Abi Hatim through the route of Ya'qub ibn al-Nu'man al-Qummi from Ja'far from Sa'id ibn Jubayr, with a disconnected chain.] And Ibn Abbas was asked by a man: 'We acquire in warfare from the wealth of the dhimmis chickens and sheep.' He said: 'What do you say?' He said: 'We say there is no harm upon us in that.' He said: 'This is as the People of the Book said: 'There is no way upon us concerning the unlettered.' For if they perform the jizyah, it is not lawful for you to eat their wealth except with their good will.' [Narrated by Abdul Razzaq and al-Tabari through the route of Abu Ishaq from Sa'sa'ah ibn Mu'awiyah that he asked Ibn Abbas - and he mentioned it.] And they say lies against Allah by claiming that this is in their Book, while they know that they are lying. Indeed, there is a confirmation of what they denied of the way upon them concerning the unlettered, meaning indeed there is a way upon them regarding them. And the saying: 'Whoever fulfills his covenant' is a new sentence affirming the sentence that was blocked by 'indeed'. The pronoun in 'his covenant' refers back to 'whoever fulfills'. Whoever fulfills what he has covenanted and fears Allah in leaving betrayal and treachery, then Allah loves him. If you say, this is general, it seems that if the People of the Book fulfill their covenants and leave betrayal, they would gain the love of Allah. I say: Yes, because if they fulfill the covenants, they would first fulfill the greatest covenant, which is what was taken from them in their Book regarding belief in a Messenger who confirms what is with them. And if they fear Allah in leaving betrayal, they would fear Him in leaving lying about Allah and distorting His words. And it is permissible that the pronoun returns to Allah, the Exalted, that whoever fulfills the covenant of Allah and fears Him, then Allah loves him. And this includes faith and other righteous deeds and what must be feared from disbelief and evil deeds. If you say: Where is the pronoun returning from the reward to whom? I say: The generality of the righteous stands in place of the return of the pronoun. And Ibn Abbas said: It was revealed concerning Abdullah ibn Salam and Buhayra the monk and their like from the Muslims of the People of the Book.