– namely, “But whoever waives it, that will be an expiation for him” (5:45). This qualifying clause makes it plain that the unbeliever is not covered, for his act of charity cannot atone for anything: good works are of no benefit while disbelief endures, as will be demonstrated under Sūrat al-Māʾidah, God willing.
Another illustration is the statement of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī—may Allah have mercy on him—that the “two sons of Adam” in the verse, “Recount to them in truth the story of Adam’s two sons when each offered a sacrifice…” (5:27), were merely two men from the Children of Israel. Yet Allah’s words, “Then Allah sent a crow scratching in the earth to show him how to conceal his brother’s naked corpse” (5:31), indicate that the event occurred at the dawn of humanity, before people knew how to bury the dead. By the time of the Children of Israel, burial was common knowledge; no Israelite would have needed a crow to teach him how to inter a corpse, as is self-evident.
A further example is the view of Mujāhid—may Allah show him mercy—that the phrase, “Whoever among you kills it deliberately, let the penalty be the like of what he killed in livestock” (5:95), refers to one who kills game intentionally but forgets that he is in a state of iḥrām. The close of the same verse, however—“so that he may taste the consequences of what he has done”—shows that the act constitutes a sin, whereas the person who simply forgets his iḥrām is not sinful, such that it could be said of him, “let him taste the consequences of his deed.”
Yet another instance is the claim, widespread among people, that the ḥijāb verse—“When you ask something of them, ask it from behind a screen” (33:53)—applies exclusively to the Prophet’s wives, peace and blessings be upon him. Allah’s own rationale for imposing the ḥijāb, however—“That is purer for your hearts and for theirs”—is a clear indication that the ruling is intended to be general, for no Muslim has ever said that women other than the Prophet’s wives have no need for the purity of their hearts, or that men have no need for the purity of their hearts from suspicious thoughts regarding them.