and among the disbelievers.”] (1) The other reciters read it in the accusative, meaning: do not take the disbelievers as allies. “And fear Allah, if you are believers.”

As for His saying, exalted is He: “When you call to prayer, they take it as mockery and play. That is because they are a people who do not understand.” Al-Kalbi said: Whenever the caller of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, called to prayer and the Muslims rose to perform it, the Jews would say mockingly, “They have risen—may they never rise! They have prayed—may they never pray!” and they would laugh. So Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. (2)

Al-Suddi said: It was revealed concerning a Christian man in Medina who, whenever he heard the muezzin say, “I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,” would say, “May the liar be burned!” One night, while he and his family were asleep, his servant entered carrying fire. (3) A spark flew from it, and the house caught fire; he and his family were burned. (4)

Others said: When the disbelievers heard the adhan, they envied the Muslims. They came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, “O Muhammad, you have invented something of which we have heard nothing among the nations of the past. If you claim prophethood, then, in what you have introduced, you have gone against the prophets before you. Had there been any good in it, the prophets would have been more entitled to it than anyone else. So where did you get a cry like a goat’s bleating?” (5) How ugly a sound, and how repulsive a practice! So Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse, and also sent down, “Who is better in speech than one who calls to Allah,” to the end of the verse. (6)

As for His saying, exalted is He: “Say, O People of the Scripture, do you resent us”—to the end of the verse. Al-Kisa’i recited “do you resent us” by assimilating the lām of hal into the tā’. He likewise assimilated the lām of hal before the tā’, thā’, and nūn. Hamzah agreed with him regarding the tā’ and thā’, while Abu ‘Amr did so in the two occurrences of the phrase, “Do you see?”

Ibn Abbas said: A group of Jews came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him—Abu Yasir ibn Akhtab, Rafi‘ ibn Abi Rafi‘, and others—and asked him which messengers he believed in. He replied, “I believe in Allah, and in what has been sent down to us, and in what was sent down to Abraham and Ishmael,” continuing until His saying, “and to Him we submit.” When he mentioned Jesus, peace be upon him, they denied his prophethood and said, “By Allah, we know of no people less fortunate in this world and the Hereafter than you, nor of any religion worse than your religion.” So Allah revealed this verse: (7) “Say, O People of the Scripture, do you resent us”