Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, "Allah sent down the Ayat,
﴿وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَآ أَنزَلَ
اللَّهُ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْكَـفِرُونَ﴾
(And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers,)
﴿فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الظَّـلِمُونَ﴾
(Such are the unjust,) and,
﴿فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْفَـسِقُونَ﴾
(Such are the rebellious.) about two groups among the Jews. During the time of Jahiliyyah,
one of them had defeated the other. As a result, they made a treaty that they would
pay blood money totaling fifty Wasaq ﴿of gold﴾ (each Wasaq approx. 3 kg) for every
dead person from the defeated group killed by the victors, and a hundred Wasaq for
every dead person the defeated group killed from the victors. This treaty remained
in effect until the Prophet came to Al-Madinah and both of these groups became subservient
under the Prophet . Yet, when the mighty group once suffered a casualty at the hands
of the weaker group, the mighty group sent a delegation demanding the hundred Wasaq.
The weaker group said, `How can two groups who have the same religion, one ancestral
lineage and a common land, have a Diyah that for some of them is half of that of
the others We only agreed to this because you oppressed us and because we feared
you. Now that Muhammad has come, we will not give you what you asked.' So war was
almost rekindled between them, but they agreed to seek Muhammad's judgement in their
dispute. The mighty group among them said ﴿among themselves﴾, `By Allah! Muhammad
will never give you double the Diyah that you pay to them compared to what they
pay to you. They have said the truth anyway, for they only gave us this amount because
we oppressed and overpowered them. Therefore, send someone to Muhammad who will
sense what his judgement will be. If he agrees to give you what you demand, accept
his judgment, and if he does not give you what you seek, do not refer to him for
judgement.' So they sent some hypocrites to the Messenger of Allah to try and find
out the Messenger's judgement. When they came to the Messenger , Allah informed
him of their matter and of their plot. Allah sent down,
﴿يأَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ لاَ يَحْزُنكَ
الَّذِينَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِى الْكُفْرِ﴾
(O Messenger! Let not those who hurry to fall into disbelief grieve you,) until,
﴿الْفَـسِقُونَ﴾
(Such are the rebellious.) By Allah! It is because of their problem that Allah sent
down these verses and it is they whom Allah meant.'' Abu Dawud collected a similar
narration for this Hadith. Abu Ja`far Ibn Jarir recorded that Ibn `Abbas said that
the Ayah in Surat Al-Ma'idah,
﴿فَاحْكُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ أَوْ أَعْرِضْ
عَنْهُمْ﴾
(either judge between them, or turn away from them...) until,
﴿الْمُقْسِطِينَ﴾
(Those who act justly.) was revealed concerning the problem of blood money between
Bani An-Nadir and Bani Qurayzah. The dead of Bani An-Nadir were being honored more
and they received the full amount of Diyah, while Qurayzah received half the Diyah
for their dead. So they referred to the Messenger of Allah for judgement and Allah
sent down these verses about them. The Messenger of Allah compelled them to adhere
to the true judgement in this matter and made the Diyah the same for both groups
and Allah knows best about that matter.'' Ahmad, Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i also recorded
this Hadith from Abu Ishaq. Al-`Awfi and `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas
said that these Ayat were revealed about the two Jews who committed adultery, and
we mentioned the Hadiths about this story before. It appears that both of these
were the reasons behind revealing these Ayat, and Allah knows best. This is why
Allah said afterwards,
﴿وَكَتَبْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ فِيهَآ أَنَّ
النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِ وَالْعَيْنَ بِالْعَيْنِ﴾
(And We ordained therein for them: Life for life, eye for eye) until the end of
the Ayah, which strengthens the opinion that the story of the Diyah was behind revealing
the Ayat as we explained above. Allah knows best. Allah said,
﴿وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَآ أَنزَلَ
اللَّهُ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْكَـفِرُونَ﴾
(And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers.)
Al-Bara' bin `Azib, Hudhayfah bin Al-Yaman, Ibn `Abbas, Abu Mijlaz, Abu Raja' Al-`Utaridi,
`Ikrimah, `Ubaydullah bin `Abdullah, Al-Hasan Al-Basri and others said that this
Ayah was revealed about the People of the Book. Al-Hasan Al-Basri added that this
Ayah also applies to us. `Abdur-Razzaq said that Ath-Thawri said that Mansur said
that Ibrahim said that these Ayat, "Were revealed about the Children of Israel,
and Allah accepted them for this Ummah.'' Ibn Jarir recorded this statement. `Ali
bin Abi Talhah also stated that Ibn `Abbas commented on Allah's statement,
﴿وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَآ أَنزَلَ
اللَّهُ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْكَـفِرُونَ﴾
(And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers,)
"Whoever rejects what Allah has revealed, will have committed Kufr, and whoever
accepts what Allah has revealed, but did not rule by it, is a Zalim (unjust) and
a Fasiq (rebellious) and a sinner.'' Ibn Jarir recorded this statement. `Abdur-Razzaq
said, "Ma`mar narrated to us that Tawus said that Ibn `Abbas was asked about Allah's
statement,
﴿وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم﴾
(And whosoever does not judge...) He said, `It is an act of Kufr.' Ibn Tawus added,
`It is not like those who disbelieve in Allah, His angels, His Books and His Messengers.'
Ath-Thawri narrated that Ibn Jurayj said that `Ata' said, `There is Kufr and Kufr
less than Kufr, Zulm and Zulm less than Zulm, Fisq and Fisq less than Fisq.''' Waki`
said that Sa`id Al-Makki said that Tawus said that,
﴿وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَآ أَنزَلَ
اللَّهُ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْكَـفِرُونَ﴾
(And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers,)
"This is not the Kufr that annuls one's religion.''
﴿وَكَتَبْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ
فِيهَآ أَنَّ النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِ وَالْعَيْنَ بِالْعَيْنِ وَالاٌّنْفَ بِالاٌّنْفِ
وَالاٍّذُنَ بِالاٍّذُنِ وَالسِّنَّ بِالسِّنِّ وَالْجُرُوحَ قِصَاصٌ فَمَن تَصَدَّقَ
بِهِ فَهُوَ كَفَّارَةٌ لَّهُ وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَآ أنزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ
هُمُ الظَّـلِمُونَ ﴾
(45. And We ordained therein for them "Life for life, eye for eye, nose for nose,
ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and wounds equal for equal. " But if anyone remits
the retaliation by way of charity, it shall be for him an expiation. And whosoever
does not judge by that which Allah has revealed, such are the unjust.) This Ayah
also chastises and criticizes the Jews because in the Tawrah, they have the law
of a life for a life. Yet, they defied this ruling by transgression and rebellion.
They used to apply this ruling when a person from Bani An-Nadir was killed by a
Qurayzah person, but this was not the case when the opposite occurred. Rather, they
would revert to Diyah in this case. They also defied the ruling in the Tawrah to
stone the adulterer and instead came up with their own form of punishment, flogging,
humiliation and parading them in public. This is why Allah said in the previous
Ayah,
﴿وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَآ أَنزَلَ
اللَّهُ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْكَـفِرُونَ﴾
(And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers.)
because they rejected Allah's command with full intention and with transgression
and rebellion. In this Ayah, Allah said,
﴿فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الظَّـلِمُونَ﴾
(such are the unjust.) because they did not exact the oppressed his due rights from
the oppressor in a matter which Allah ordered that all be treated equally and fairly.
Instead, they defied that command, committed injustice and transgressed against
each other.
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