Allah Most High that among them are trustworthiness and treachery. A qintar denotes a large sum of wealth, while a dinar denotes a small sum. That is, among them are those who fulfill a trust even when it is great, and among them are those who do not fulfill it even when it is small.
Muqatil said: “And among the People of the Scripture are those who, if you entrust them with a great sum of wealth, will return it to you”: they are the believing People of the Scripture, such as Abdullah ibn Salam and his companions. “And among them are those who, if you entrust them with a single dinar, will not return it to you”: meaning the disbelieving Jews, such as Ka‘b ibn al-Ashraf and his companions.
Juwaybir related from al-Dahhak, from Ibn Abbas, concerning His saying, “And among the People of the Scripture are those who, if you entrust them with a great sum of wealth, will return it to you,” that this refers to Abdullah ibn Salam. A man entrusted him with one thousand two hundred ounces of gold, and he returned it to him. “And among them are those who, if you entrust them with a single dinar, will not return it to you”: this refers to Finhas ibn Azura. A man from Quraysh entrusted him with one dinar, but he betrayed him.
Concerning His saying, “will return it to you”: Abu ‘Amr, Abu Bakr, and Hamzah recited “will return it,” “will not return it,” “We shall make him enter it,” “We shall give him,” and “We shall turn him over,” with the final ha’ unvocalized. Abu Ja‘far, Qalun, and Ya‘qub recited them with a shortened kasrah, while the remaining reciters pronounced the kasrah fully. Those who left the ha’ unvocalized said that it was placed in the position of the jussive ya’ that has been omitted. Those who shortened the vowel considered the kasrah sufficient in place of the ya’, while those who pronounced it fully followed the original form, since the basic rule for the ha’ is full vowel pronunciation.
“Unless you remain standing over him.” Ibn Abbas said: persistently—that is, standing over him and insistently demanding it. Al-Dahhak said: continually; that is, continually pressing him for payment. It was also said that the meaning is: if you entrust him with something and then reclaim it while standing over him, without leaving him, he will return it to you; but if you leave him and defer the matter, he will deny it and not return it.
“That”—that is, such deeming lawful and such betrayal—“is because they say, ‘There is no blame upon us in dealing with the gentiles.’” That is, there is no sin or culpability upon us concerning the property of the Arabs, just as Allah Most High says, “There is no blame upon those who do good.” This was because the Jews said: “The wealth of the Arabs is lawful for us, since they do not follow our religion and have no inviolability ⦗61/A⦘ in our Scripture.” They regarded it as lawful to wrong anyone who differed from them in their religion.
Al-Kalbi said: The Jews said, “All wealth originally belonged to us; whatever of it is in the hands of the Arabs belongs to us, for they have wronged us and seized it from us. Thus there is no blame upon us for taking it from them.”
Al-Hasan, Ibn Jurayj, and Muqatil said: In the Age of Ignorance, the Jews entered into transactions with some Muslim men. When those men embraced Islam, they demanded from them the remainder of their wealth. The Jews replied, “You have no right against us, nor are we obligated to settle anything with you, because you have abandoned your religion and the covenant between us and you has been severed.” They claimed that they had found this in their Scriptures, but Allah declared them liars, saying: “They knowingly tell lies about Allah.” Then, in refutation of them, He said:
“Yes indeed! Whoever fulfills his covenant and is mindful of Allah—then surely Allah loves those who are mindful of Him. (76)”
“Yes indeed” means: It is not as they claimed; rather, they are blameworthy. Then He begins anew, saying, “Whoever fulfills”—that is, rather, whoever fulfills—“his covenant”: Allah’s covenant, which He bound them to in the Torah: faith in Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and the Quran, and the fulfillment of trusts. It was also said that the pronoun in “his covenant” refers to the one who fulfills it. “And is mindful of Allah”: by avoiding disbelief, betrayal, and the breaking of covenants. “Then surely Allah loves those who are mindful of Him.”