Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (2/231)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

“O you who were given the Scripture, believe in what We have sent down, confirming what is with you, before We obliterate faces and turn them backward, or curse them as We cursed the Sabbath-breakers. And the command of Allah is always carried out.” (47)

Regarding His saying, “O you who were given the Scripture”: He is addressing the Jews. “Believe in what We have sent down” means the Quran, “confirming what is with you” means the Torah. The reason for this was that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, spoke to the Jewish rabbis Abdullah ibn Surayya and Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, saying: “O company of Jews, fear Allah and embrace Islam. By Allah, you surely know that what I have brought you is the truth.” They replied, “We do not know that,” and persisted in disbelief. So this verse was revealed. (1)

“Before We obliterate faces”: Ibn Abbas said, “We will make them like the hoof of a camel.” Qatadah and al-Dahhak said, “We will blind them.” (2) What is meant by “face” here is the eye. “And turn them backward”: that is, We will obliterate the face and move it to the nape of the neck. It was also said: We will make their faces places where hair grows, like the faces of monkeys, since the places where human hair grows are on their backs rather than on their faces. It was also said: Its meaning is that We will erase their features—their noses, eyes, mouths, and eyebrows—and make them like the backs of their necks. It was also said: We will place their eyes on the nape of their necks, so that they walk backward.

It is related that when Abdullah ibn Salam, may Allah be pleased with him, heard this verse, he came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, before going to his family, with his hand over his face. He embraced Islam and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I did not think that I would reach you before my face was turned to the nape of my neck.” Likewise, when Ka'b al-Ahbar heard this verse, he embraced Islam during the caliphate of Umar, may Allah be pleased with him. He said, “My Lord, I believe; my Lord, I submit to Islam,” out of fear that the warning in this verse would befall him. (3)

If it is asked: He threatened them with obliteration if they did not believe, yet they did not believe and He did not do that to them? (4)

It is said: This warning remains in effect, and there will be an obliteration and a transformation among the Jews before the Hour is established.

It was also said: This was a conditional warning; when Abdullah ibn Salam and his companions embraced Islam, it was averted from the rest of them.

It was also said: What was intended was the Day of Resurrection. Mujahid ⦗88a⦘ said that by His saying, “We obliterate faces,” He meant: We leave them in misguidance. Thus, what is intended is the obliteration of the heart’s inner sight and its turning away from the insights of guidance, back into disbelief and misguidance.

The basic meaning of obliteration is erasure, corruption, and transformation. Ibn Zayd said: We shall erase their traces from their faces and from the regions in which they

(1) Narrated at length by al-Bukhari in Manaqib al-Ansar (The Virtues of the Ansar), chapter: “The Migration of the Prophet and His Companions to Madinah,” 7:249-250. (2) In manuscript A: “its blessings.” (3) Part of the preceding hadith. (4) In both manuscripts: “and He promised them.”

﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ آمِنُوا بِمَا نَزَّلْنَا مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا مَعَكُمْ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَطْمِسَ وُجُوهًا فَنَرُدَهَا عَلَى أَدْبَارِهَا أَوْ نَلْعَنَهُمْ كَمَا لَعَنَّا أَصْحَابَ السَّبْتِ وَكَانَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ مَفْعُولًا (٤٧) ﴾ قَوْلُهُ ﷿: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ﴾ يُخَاطِبُ الْيَهُودَ، ﴿آمِنُوا بِمَا نَزَّلْنَا﴾ يَعْنِي: الْقُرْآنَ، ﴿مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا مَعَكُمْ﴾ يَعْنِي: التَّوْرَاةَ، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ كَلَّمَ أَحْبَارَ الْيَهُودِ: عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ صُورِيَّا وَكَعْبَ بْنَ الْأَشْرَفِ، فَقَالَ: "يَا مَعْشَرَ الْيَهُودِ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَسْلِمُوا، فَوَاللَّهِ إِنَّكُمْ لِتَعْلَمُونِ أَنَّ الَّذِي جِئْتُكُمْ بِهِ لَحَقٌّ"، قَالُوا: مَا نَعْرِفُ ذَلِكَ، وَأَصَرُّوا عَلَى الْكُفْرِ، فَنَزَلَتْ هَذِهِ الْآيَةُ (١) . ﴿مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَطْمِسَ وُجُوهًا﴾ قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: نَجْعَلُهَا كَخُفِّ الْبَعِيرِ، وَقَالَ قَتَادَةُ وَالضَّحَّاكُ: نُعْمِيهَا (٢) ، وَالْمُرَادُ بِالْوَجْهِ الْعَيْنُ، ﴿فَنَرُدَّهَا عَلَى أَدْبَارِهَا﴾ أَيْ: نَطْمِسُ الْوَجْهَ فَنَرُدُّهُ عَلَى الْقَفَا، وَقِيلَ: نَجْعَلُ الْوُجُوهَ مَنَابِتَ الشَّعْرِ كَوُجُوهِ الْقِرَدَةِ، لِأَنَّ مَنَابِتَ شُعُورِ الْآدَمِيِّينَ فِي أَدْبَارِهِمْ دُونَ وُجُوهِهِمْ، وَقِيلَ: مَعْنَاهُ نَمْحُو آثَارَهَا وَمَا فِيهَا مِنْ أَنْفٍ وَعَيْنٍ وَفَمٍ وَحَاجِبٍ فَنَجْعَلُهَا كَالْأَقْفَاءِ، وَقِيلَ: نَجْعَلُ عَيْنَيْهِ عَلَى الْقَفَا فَيَمْشِي قَهْقَرَى. رُوِيَ أَنَّ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ سَلَامٍ ﵁ لَمَّا سَمِعَ هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ جَاءَ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ أَهْلَهُ، وَيَدَهُ عَلَى وَجْهِهِ، وَأَسْلَمَ وَقَالَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا كُنْتُ أَرَى أَنْ أَصِلَ إِلَيْكَ حَتَّى يَتَحَوَّلَ وَجْهِي فِي قَفَايَ، وَكَذَلِكَ كَعْبُ الْأَحْبَارِ لَمَّا سَمِعَ هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ أَسْلَمَ فِي زَمَنِ عُمَرَ ﵁، فَقَالَ: يَا رَبِّ آمَنْتُ، يَا رَبِّ أَسْلَمْتُ، مَخَافَةَ أَنْ يُصِيبَهُ وَعِيدُ هَذِهِ الْآيَةِ (٣) . فَإِنْ قِيلَ: قَدْ أَوعَدَهُمْ (٤) بِالطَّمْسِ إِنْ لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا ثُمَّ لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا وَلَمْ يَفْعَلْ بِهِمْ ذَلِكَ؟ . قِيلَ: هَذَا الْوَعِيدُ بَاقٍ، وَيَكُونُ طَمْسٌ وَمَسْخٌ فِي الْيَهُودِ قَبْلَ قِيَامِ السَّاعَةِ. وَقِيلَ: كَانَ هَذَا وَعِيدًا بِشَرْطٍ، فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ سَلَامٍ وَأَصْحَابُهُ دَفَعَ ذَلِكَ عَنِ الْبَاقِينَ. وَقِيلَ: أَرَادَ بِهِ الْقِيَامَةَ، وقال مجاهد ٨٨/أأَرَادَ بِقَوْلِهِ: ﴿نَطْمِسَ وُجُوهًا﴾ أَيْ: نَتْرُكَهُمْ فِي الضَّلَالَةِ، فَيَكُونُ الْمُرَادُ طَمْسَ وَجْهِ الْقَلْبِ، وَالرَّدَّ عَنْ بَصَائِرِ الْهُدَى عَلَى أَدْبَارِهَا فِي الْكُفْرِ وَالضَّلَالَةِ. وَأَصْلُ الطَّمْسِ: الْمَحْوُ وَالْإِفْسَادُ وَالتَّحْوِيلُ، وَقَالَ ابْنُ زَيْدٍ: نَمْحُو آثَارَهُمْ مِنْ وُجُوهِهِمْ وَنَوَاحِيهِمُ الَّتِي

(١) أخرجه البخاري مطولا في مناقب الأنصار، باب هجرة النبي ﷺ وأصحابه إلى المدينة: ٧ / ٢٤٩ - ٢٥٠. (٢) في أ: (نعمها) . (٣) قطعة من الحديث السابق. (٤) في المخطوطتين (وعدهم) .