Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (126)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

(23–25) “Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Scripture? They are summoned to Allah’s Book so that it may judge between them, yet a group of them turns away in rejection. That is because they say, ‘The Fire will touch us only for a limited number of days.’ What they fabricated has deceived them concerning their religion. Then how will it be when We gather them for a Day about which there is no doubt, and every soul is paid in full for what it earned, and they are not wronged?”

Allah Most High informs us of the condition of the People of the Scripture, whom He blessed with His Book. They should therefore have been the most steadfast in upholding it and the quickest to submit to its rulings. Yet Allah tells us that when they are summoned to the judgment of the Book, a group of them turns away in rejection: they turn away with their bodies and reject it in their hearts. This is the height of condemnation. It also contains a warning to us against acting as they did, lest the same condemnation and punishment that befell them befall us. Rather, whenever anyone is summoned to Allah’s Book, he must listen, obey, and submit. As Allah Most High says, “The only response of the believers, when they are summoned to Allah and His Messenger so that he may judge between them, is to say, ‘We hear and we obey.’”

What deluded the People of the Scripture and emboldened them to disobey Allah was their claim: “The Fire will touch us only for a limited number of days. What they fabricated has deceived them concerning their religion.”

They fabricated this claim and then imagined it to be true. They acted accordingly and did not refrain from forbidden deeds, because their own souls filled them with false hopes and deluded them into believing that their ultimate abode would be Paradise. But they lied about this. It is nothing but a lie and fabrication. Their ultimate abode will instead be the worst of abodes, and their end will be grievous. For this reason, Allah Most High says, “Then how will it be when We gather them for a Day about which there is no doubt?”

﴿٢٣ - ٢٥﴾ ﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا نَصِيبًا مِنَ الْكِتَابِ يُدْعَوْنَ إِلَى كِتَابِ اللَّهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ يَتَوَلَّى فَرِيقٌ مِنْهُمْ وَهُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ * ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا لَنْ تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ إِلا أَيَّامًا مَعْدُودَاتٍ وَغَرَّهُمْ فِي دِينِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ * فَكَيْفَ إِذَا جَمَعْنَاهُمْ لِيَوْمٍ لا رَيْبَ فِيهِ وَوُفِّيَتْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لا يُظْلَمُونَ﴾ . يخبر تعالى عن حال أهل الكتاب الذين أنعم الله عليهم بكتابه، فكان يجب أن يكونوا أقوم الناس به وأسرعهم انقيادا لأحكامه، فأخبر الله عنهم أنهم إذا دعوا إلى حكم الكتاب تولى فريق منهم وهم يعرضون، تولوا بأبدانهم، وأعرضوا بقلوبهم، وهذا غاية الذم، وفي ضمنها التحذير لنا أن نفعل كفعلهم، فيصيبنا من الذم والعقاب ما أصابهم، بل الواجب على كل أحد إذا دعي إلى كتاب الله أن يسمع ويطيع وينقاد، كما قال تعالى ﴿إنما كان قول المؤمنين إذا دعوا إلى الله ورسوله ليحكم بينهم أن يقولوا سمعنا وأطعنا﴾ والسبب الذي غر أهل الكتاب بتجرئهم على معاصي الله هو قولهم ﴿لن تمسنا النار إلا أياما معدودات وغرهم في دينهم ما كانوا يفترون﴾ . افتروا هذا القول فظنوه حقيقة فعملوا على ذلك ولم ينزجروا عن المحارم، لأن أنفسهم منتهم وغرتهم أن مآلهم إلى الجنة، وكذبوا في ذلك، فإن هذا مجرد كذب وافتراء، وإنما مآلهم شر مآل، وعاقبتهم عاقبة وخيمة، فلهذا قال تعالى ﴿فكيف إذا جمعناهم ليوم لا ريب فيه﴾ .