“If they dispute with you, then say: ‘I have submitted myself to Allah, as have those who follow me.’ And say to those who were given the Book and to the unlettered: ‘Have you submitted?’ If they submit, then they are rightly guided; but if they turn away, then your duty is only to convey the message. And Allah is All-Seeing of His servants.” (20)

His words, exalted is He, “If they dispute with you,” mean: if they argue with you, O Muhammad, concerning the religion. This was because the Jews and Christians said, “We are not as you have described us, O Muhammad. Judaism and Christianity are merely affiliations; the religion is Islam, and we adhere to it.” So Allah, exalted is He, said: “Then say: ‘I have submitted myself to Allah’”—that is, I have yielded to Allah alone with my heart, my tongue, and all my limbs. The face was singled out because it is the noblest of a person’s limbs and contains his beauty; when his face submits to something, all his limbs submit to it. Al-Farra’ said: “Its meaning is: I have devoted my deeds sincerely to Allah.” “And those who follow me,” that is, whoever follows me has submitted as I have submitted. Nafi‘ and Abu ‘Amr retained the final letter ya’ in the words, “those who follow me,” according to the original form, while the others omitted it in accordance with the written text, since it is written in the mushaf without a ya’.

His words, “And say to those who were given the Book and to the unlettered,” mean the Arabs: “Have you submitted?” Its wording is interrogative, but its meaning is a command: that is, submit—as in His saying, “Will you then desist?” (al-Ma’idah 5:91), meaning, desist. “If they submit, then they are rightly guided.” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, recited this verse, and the People of the Book said, “We have submitted.” He then said to the Jews, “Do you testify that Jesus is the Word of Allah, His servant, and His Messenger?” They said, “Allah forbid.” And he said to the Christians, “Do you testify that Jesus is the servant of Allah and His Messenger?” (1) They said, “Allah forbid that Jesus should be a servant.” So Allah, exalted is He, said: “But if they turn away, then your duty is only to convey the message”—that is, to deliver the message; guidance is not your responsibility. “And Allah is All-Seeing of His servants”: He knows who believes and who does not believe.

“Indeed, those who disbelieve in the verses of Allah, kill the prophets without right, and kill those among the people who command justice—give them tidings of a painful punishment.” (21)

His words, exalted is He, “Indeed, those who disbelieve in the verses of Allah,” mean: they deny the verses of Allah—that is, the Quran. They are the Jews and Christians. “And kill the prophets without right, and kill those among the people who command justice.” Hamzah recited: “and fight those who command justice.” Ibn Jurayj said: “Revelation would come to the [prophets] (2) of the Children of Israel, but no Book would be sent down to them. They would admonish their people and be killed. Then men from among those who had followed and believed them would arise and admonish their people, and they too would be killed. They are the ones among the people who command justice.”

Abu Sa‘id al-Shurayhi informed us; Abu Ishaq al-Tha‘labi informed me; Abu ‘Abdullah al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Fanjawayh al-Daynawari informed me; Abu Nasr Mansur ibn Ja‘far al-Nahawandi informed me; Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn al-Jarud informed me; Muhammad ibn ‘Amr ibn Hayyan informed me; Muhammad ibn Himyar (3) informed me; Abu al-Hasan, a client of Banu Asad, informed me from Makhul, from Qabisah ibn Dhu’ayb al-Khuza‘i.