Surah Al-Qasas (28) — Ayah 48

(Ayah 48) ➊ { فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ عِنْدِنَا …:} That is, if a messenger had not been sent, there would have been an excuse that why was a messenger not sent; now when a messenger has come from Us, out of stubbornness and hostility they began to say why was he not given miracles like those given to Musa, such as the staff, the shining hand, the splitting of the sea, the shading of the clouds, the gushing of twelve springs from the rock, the descent of manna and quails, Allah speaking, and the Torah being revealed in the form of tablets, etc. It is clear that if one does not want to believe, excuses never end.
➋ Mufassir Razi says: “What these people demanded was not necessary to be fulfilled in the same way, because it is neither necessary that all the miracles of the prophets be the same, nor is it necessary that the book revealed to them be revealed in the same manner, because sometimes it is better for the book to be revealed all at once, like the Torah, and sometimes it is better to reveal it gradually, like the Qur’an.”
➌ { اَوَ لَمْ يَكْفُرُوْا بِمَاۤ اُوْتِيَ مُوْسٰى مِنْ قَبْلُ :} That is, even if the miracles they demanded are shown, what benefit is there? Those who have decided not to believe will not believe even after seeing every kind of sign. Did not people of their own kind, who had the same religion and the same hostility as them, that is, the disbelievers of the time of Musa (peace be upon him), deny those miracles that were given to Musa? They said about Musa and Harun (peace be upon them) that they (are such great magicians that) they are embodied magic, helping each other, and they said that we deny all of them.
This meaning is correct, but the more authentic point is that in { ’’ اَوَ لَمْ يَكْفُرُوْا …‘‘} (Did they not deny those things which were given to Musa), the deniers referred to are the Quraysh themselves, who demanded from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) the miracles that were given to Musa (peace be upon him). The evidence for this meaning being more authentic is that from {’’ فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمُ الْحَقُّ ‘‘} to {’’ وَ قَالُوْۤا اِنَّا بِكُلٍّ كٰفِرُوْنَ ‘‘}, all the statements are made by the same people about whom Allah said in the next verse: «{ قُلْ فَاْتُوْا بِكِتٰبٍ مِّنْ عِنْدِ اللّٰهِ هُوَ اَهْدٰى مِنْهُمَاۤ }» “Say, then bring a book from Allah which is a better guide than these two.” It is clear that the command to say this was for those people whom you were addressing, and they were the Quraysh, or other disbelievers of your time, because they did not only deny the prophethood of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) but also denied the previous prophethoods; they neither believed in Musa (peace be upon him) and became his followers, nor in Isa (peace be upon him). Allah has quoted the saying of the disbelievers of your time: «{ وَ قَالَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا لَنْ نُّؤْمِنَ بِهٰذَا الْقُرْاٰنِ وَ لَا بِالَّذِيْ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ}» [ سبا : ۳۱ ] “And those who disbelieved said, ‘We will never believe in this Qur’an nor in that which was before it.’” The meaning is that the miracles of Musa (peace be upon him) which they are demanding, even with those miracles they never believed in Musa (peace be upon him), so now they are demanding them from Muhammad (peace be upon him). They themselves say that Musa (peace be upon him) was given these miracles, but even then they never accepted him as a prophet and never followed him.
➍ { قَالُوْا سِحْرٰنِ تَظٰهَرَا:} That is, the Qur’an and the Torah are both magic, confirming each other. Tabari has narrated this from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) with an authentic chain through Ali bin Abi Talhah. Among the heavenly books, after the Qur’an, the greatest book is the Torah; after Musa (peace be upon him), all the prophets including Isa (peace be upon him) followed it, that is why in the Qur’an, the Torah and the Qur’an are often mentioned together, as He said: «{ قُلْ مَنْ اَنْزَلَ الْكِتٰبَ الَّذِيْ جَآءَ بِهٖ مُوْسٰى نُوْرًا وَّ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ }» [ الأنعام :۹۱ ] “Say, who sent down the Book which Musa brought, a light and guidance for the people?” Here, the Torah is described as light and guidance, then about the Qur’an it is said: «{ وَ هٰذَا كِتٰبٌ اَنْزَلْنٰهُ مُبٰرَكٌ مُّصَدِّقُ الَّذِيْ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ }» [ الأنعام : ۹۲] “And this is a Book which We have sent down, blessed, confirming what was before it.” At the end of this Surah Al-An’am, He said: «{ ثُمَّ اٰتَيْنَا مُوْسَى الْكِتٰبَ تَمَامًا عَلَى الَّذِيْۤ اَحْسَنَ }» [ الأنعام : ۱۵۴ ] “Then We gave Musa the Book to complete (Our favor) upon the one who did good.” And in the next verse, the Qur’an is mentioned: «{ وَ هٰذَا كِتٰبٌ اَنْزَلْنٰهُ مُبٰرَكٌ فَاتَّبِعُوْهُ وَ اتَّقُوْا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُوْنَ }» [ الأنعام : ۱۵۵ ] “And this is a Book which We have sent down, blessed, so follow it and fear (Allah) so that you may receive mercy.”