Fath al-Rabbani

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) that a Jew was brought past the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), whose face had been blackened and who had been flogged. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called them and said: “Do you find this as the punishment for adultery in your Book?” They said: “Yes.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called one of their scholars and said to him: “I ask you by Allah, Who revealed the Torah to Musa (peace be upon him), do you find this as the punishment for adultery in your Book?” He said: “By Allah, no! And if you had not asked me by this, I would not have told you. In our Book, the punishment for adultery is stoning, but when adultery became common among our upper class, if we caught someone of high status, we would let him go, and if we caught someone weak, we would carry out this punishment on him. Then we held a meeting and passed a law that we should prescribe a punishment that we could enforce on both the high and the low, so we agreed on flogging and blackening the face.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “O Allah! I am Your servant who has revived Your command first, while the Jews have abandoned it.” Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered, and he was stoned. Allah Almighty revealed this verse: {یٰٓاَیُّھَا الرَّسُوْلُ لَا یَحْزُنْکَ الَّذِیْنَیُسَارِعُوْنَ فِی الْکُفْرِ مِنَ الَّذِیْنَ قَالُوْٓا اٰمَنَّا بِاَفْوَاہِہِمْ وَلَمْ تُؤْمِنْ قُلُوْبُہُمْ وَمِنَ الَّذِیْنَ ہَادُوْا سَمّٰعُوْنَ لِلْکَذِبِ سَمّٰعُوْنَ لِقَوْمٍ اٰخَرِیْنَ لَمْ یَاْتُوْکَیُحَرِّفُوْنَ الْکَلِمَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَوَاضِعِہٖیَقُوْلُوْنَ اِنْ اُوْتِیْتُمْ ہٰذَا فَخُذُوْہُ وَاِنْ لَّمْ تُؤْتَوْہُ فَاحْذَرُوْا۔} … O Messenger! Let not those grieve you who hasten into disbelief, of those who say with their mouths, ‘We believe,’ but their hearts do not believe, and of those who are Jews. They are listeners to falsehood, listening for another people who have not come to you. They distort words from their places. They say, ‘If you are given this, take it, but if you are not given it, beware.’ These Jews say among themselves: Go to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), if he gives you the verdict that the adulterer’s face should be blackened and he should be flogged, then accept it, but if he gives the verdict of stoning, then beware. Until Allah Almighty’s statement: {وَمَنْ لَمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللّٰہُ فَأُولَئِکَ ہُمُ الْکَافِرُوْنَ} This is about the Jews, and {وَمَنْ لَمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا أَ نْزَلَ اللّٰہُ فَأُولَئِکَ ہُمُ الظَّالِمُوْنَ} and {وَمَنْ لَمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا أَ نْزَلَ اللّٰہُ فَأُولَئِکَ ہُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ} these two verses are about the disbelievers.

Narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, he says: Allah Almighty said: {فَإِنْ جَائُ وْکَ فَاحْکُمْ بَیْنَہُمْ أَ وْ أَ عْرِضْ عَنْہُمْ، وَإِنْ تُعْرِضْ عَنْہُمْ فَلَنْ یَضُرُّوکَ شَیْئًا، وَإِنْ حَکَمْتَ فَاحْکُمْ بَیْنَہُمْ بِالْقِسْطِ، إِنَّ اللّٰہَیُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِینَ} … Then if they come to you, judge between them or turn away from them; and if you turn away from them, they will not harm you at all. But if you judge, judge between them with justice. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly. The detail is that when Banu Nadir killed a slave of Banu Qurayza, they would pay half the blood money, and when Banu Qurayza killed someone from Banu Nadir, they would pay the full blood money. The Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, made them equal in the matter of blood money.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Allah Almighty revealed these verses: "And those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed, they are disbelievers," and, "they are wrongdoers," and, "they are transgressors." They said: Allah Almighty revealed these verses about two groups of Jews. One of them had overpowered the other during the time of ignorance, until they agreed and made peace on the condition that if a man from the noble tribe killed a man from the lowly tribe, the blood money would be fifty wasq, and if the lowly tribe killed a man from the noble tribe, the blood money would be one hundred (100) wasq. They remained on this agreement until the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madinah. With his arrival, both tribes lost their status, although he had not yet prevailed over them, nor had he agreed with them, and it was still a time of peace and reconciliation with them. Meanwhile, the lowly tribe killed a man from the noble tribe. The noble tribe sent a message to the lowly tribe: "Pay one hundred wasq." The lowly tribe said: "Can it be that among tribes whose religion is one, lineage is one, and city is one, the blood money of one is half that of the other? We used to pay you (one hundred wasq) because of your oppression and tyranny, but now that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) has come, we will not pay you." The flames of war were about to ignite between them when they agreed to accept the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as the arbitrator. The heirs of the noble tribe said among themselves: "By Allah! Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) will not judge in your favor for double. The lowly tribe is right, for they used to pay us double because of our oppression and tyranny. Now, send someone as a spy to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) who can inform you of his decision. If he decides according to your wishes, then accept him as the judge, and if not, then be cautious and do not accept him as the arbitrator." So they sent some hypocrites as spies to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When they reached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Allah Almighty informed His Messenger of all their plots and intentions, and revealed these verses: "O Messenger! Do not grieve over those who hasten into disbelief, whether they are among those who say with their mouths, 'We believe,' but their hearts do not believe..." and, "Those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed, they are disbelievers." (Surah Al-Ma'idah: 41-44) Then he said: "By Allah! These verses were revealed about these two (groups), and Allah Almighty meant these people."