Surah An-Nisaa (4) — Ayah 46

(Ayah 46) ➊ { مِنَ الَّذِيْنَ هَادُوْا يُحَرِّفُوْنَ …:} In the above verse, it was stated that they adopt misguidance; now in this verse, that misguidance is explained with several matters. That is, they distort the rulings of the Torah. See Surah Al-Ma'idah (13, 41). In Surah Al-Ma'idah, besides { ”عَنْ مَّوَاضِعِهٖ“ }, there is also { ”مِنْ بَعْدِمَّوَاضِعِهٖ“ }, which means literal distortion; here { ”عَنْ مَّوَاضِعِهٖ“ } is mentioned, which means distortion of meaning, that is, they use corrupt interpretations, for example, associating the story of the sacrifice with Ishaq (Isaac) instead of Ismail (Ishmael) (peace be upon them). (Razi, Shawkani) In our time as well, it has become the practice of all innovators that whenever a verse or hadith appears contrary to the statement of an imam, mujtahid, or spiritual guide, they interpret it and do not feel any shame before Allah, even though the spiritual guide, imam, and mujtahid were not infallible, unlike the Prophet, whom Allah Himself protected from error. (Wahidi)

➋ { لَيًّۢا بِاَلْسِنَتِهِمْ: ”لَيًّۢا“ } This is from {’’ لَوَي يَلْوِيْ لَيًّا ‘‘}, meaning to twist or distort, that is, they twist their tongues and say { ”رَاعِيْنَا“ }, which is a word of insult. See Al-Baqarah (104). One of their misguidances is that when they hear a command from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), they outwardly say {’’ سَمِعْنَا ‘‘} (meaning "we have heard"), but due to extreme enmity, they also say {”عَصَيْنَا“ } (we do not accept). Similarly, when speaking to the Prophet (peace be upon him), they would say {’’ اسْمَعْ غَيْرَ مُسْمَعٍ ‘‘} (listen, may no one make you hear), which outwardly is a good prayer, meaning may you always prevail and no one be able to say anything bad to you, but in their hearts, they intended that he become deaf and unable to hear, thus committing such mischief. (Razi, Ibn Kathir)

➌ { وَ طَعْنًا فِي الدِّيْنِ:} That is, they do all these actions and then, with the intention of criticizing the religion, say that if this person were a prophet, he would have known our deception. Upon this, Allah exposed the evil within them, and that very criticism became a strong proof of the truthfulness of the Prophethood of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). (Razi)

➍ { وَ لَوْ اَنَّهُمْ قَالُوْا سَمِعْنَا وَ اَطَعْنَا … :} That is, if instead of such actions and criticisms, they had used words in which there could be no element of mischief and had come with sincerity, for example, instead of { ”عَصَيْنَا“ }, they had said { ”اَطَعْنَا“ }, and instead of { ”غَيْرَ مُسْمَعٍ“ }, only { ”اسْمَعْ“ }, and instead of { ”رَاعِنَا“ }, { ”انْظُرْنَا“ }, it would have been better for them. But alas, they believe in very few commands. Thus, {”قَلِيْلًا“} here is a suppressed verbal noun describing { ”إِيْمَانًا“ }, and it also means that very few of them believe, to the extent that hardly even ten among the Jews believed.

46. 1 Among the wickedness and mischiefs of the Jews was also this: that along with saying 'we have heard', they would add, 'but we will disobey', meaning we will not obey. They would say this in their hearts, or to their companions, or, committing an audacious insolence, say it openly. Similarly, غَيْرُ مُسْمَعٍ (may your words not be heard) they would say as a curse. That is, may your words not be accepted. For the explanation of راعنا, see the footnote of Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 14.

46. 2 That is, those who believe are very few. It has already been mentioned that the number of believers among the Jews did not even reach ten. Or it means that they believe in very few things, whereas beneficial faith is that one believes in all matters.

46. Among the Jews are some who distort the words of the Book from their proper places [77.1], and they say, twisting their tongues and mocking the religion: "We hear and disobey," and "Hear, but may you not be heard," and "Ra‘ina." If instead they had said, "We hear and obey," and "Listen," and "Look upon us" [78], it would have been better and more proper for them. But Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so only a few of them will believe.

[77۔ الف] The Torah was revealed in the Hebrew language, but the original Torah was lost twice. Then reliance was placed on its translations in different languages. Nowadays, the collection of the Torah and the Gospel is called the Holy Bible. The part of the Torah is called the Old Testament and the part of the Gospel is called the New Testament. In addition to alterations, many interpolated subjects have also been included in them, from which it is clear that this text cannot be revealed. As is evident from the following passages:
1. "So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day." [ كتاب استثناء باب 34] From this passage, it is clear that this is not part of the divine book but an interpolated subject that was included in the Bible long after the death of Sayyiduna Musa.
2. "And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder." [كتاب پيدائش باب 35، آيت 21] This passage is interpolated because Ader is the name of the tower that was at the gate of the city of Jerusalem, and it was built several hundred years after the death of Sayyiduna Musaؑ.
3. "And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah." [كتاب گنتي باب 21، آيت 3] This passage is also not revealed because this incident occurred not only after Sayyiduna Musaؑ but even after Sayyiduna Yushaؑ. For Musaؑ did not even reach Canaan in his lifetime. How could the towns have been declared forbidden? In response, most of the scholars of the People of the Book say that these sentences are interpolations and were added by Sayyiduna Uzairؑ, but Sayyiduna Uzairؑ did not explicitly state that this is his speech. Moreover, from the continuity of the text, it also appears that this speech is connected. These are places that are historically proven to be incorrect, but most of the passages of the Bible are such that they do not appear to be the word of Allah, but rather the word of someone else. For example:
4. The Book of Exodus, chapter 2, verse 11, is as follows: "And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown..." Consider whether this appears to be the word of Allah or that of a biographer? Similarly, in the same book and the same chapter, verse 15 is as follows: "Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh..." In short, there are countless verses in these books from which it is clear that they cannot be the word of Allah, nor are they the words of the Prophets, but it appears that a biographer recorded these events long after. Then even these were included in the Holy Book.
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The Mischief of the Jews:

Those Jews who used to come to the gatherings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, three types of their actions are mentioned in these verses. One is that when they heard a divine command, they would loudly say ﴿سَمِعْنَا﴾, but in a low voice or in their hearts, they would say ﴿عَصَيْنَا﴾ (meaning, we will not accept). Or they would twist the word ﴿اَطَعْنَا﴾ with their tongues and pronounce it in such a way that instead of ﴿اَطَعْنَا﴾, it would be understood as ﴿عَصَيْنَا﴾. (2) ﴿اِسْمَعْ﴾ (Listen to us), that is, when something was not clear to them and they needed to ask something, they would say ﴿اِسْمَعْ﴾ and at the same time say ﴿غَيْرَ مُسْمَعٍ﴾ in their hearts (meaning, may you not hear, or may you become deaf). (3) And sometimes, instead of ﴿اِسْمَعْ﴾, they would say ﴿رَاعِنَا﴾ and twist their tongues to say ﴿رَاعِيْنَا﴾ (our shepherd). Then among themselves, they would also say that if he were truly a Prophet, he would surely have been informed of our words. Thus, Allah Almighty informed the Muslims of their mischief and wickedness, and also made it clear that those who have become so firm in their misguidance and stubbornness, it is futile to expect them to believe—except whom Allah wills.