Transliteration:( Alam tara ilal lazeena 'ootoo naseebam minal kitaabi yu'minoona bil Jibti wat Taaghooti wa yaqooloona lillazeena kafaroo haaa ulaaa'i ahdaa minal lazeena aamanoo sabeelaa )
“Have you not seen [184] those who were given a share of the Book [185]? They believe in superstition and false gods [186] and say to those who disbelieve, ‘These (disbelievers) are more rightly guided than the believers.’”
This verse was revealed regarding Ka'b bin Ashraf and seventy Jewish companions, who went to the idolaters of Makkah and encouraged them to fight the Holy Prophet ﷺ.
The Quraish hesitated at first, reasoning that since the Yahud (Jews) were People of the Book, they might align with the Muslims in case of war. To assure them otherwise, the Quraish demanded a gesture: the Jews must bow down to their idols.
These misguided individuals complied and prostrated to the idols. Later, Abu Sufyan asked whether the Quraish or Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was on the true path. Ka’b bin Ashraf deceitfully replied that the Quraish were on the path of truth. This verse was revealed in condemnation of their betrayal and false testimony.
The term “a share of the Book” refers to partial knowledge, not righteous practice.
Ka'b bin Ashraf, a Jewish priest, had knowledge of divine scripture but failed to act upon it. From this, we learn that the Book of Allah is comprised of two essential aspects:
Knowledge
Action
Knowledge without practice is a curse. May Allah Almighty bless us with both.
The word Taghoot (Shaitaan) comes from TAGHA, meaning rebellion.
When Shaitaan disobeyed Allah’s command, he became the leader of rebellion. Likewise, those who worship or follow false gods, whether human or jinn, fall under the same category.
The Qur’an even uses the word Shaitaan to describe the leaders of disbelief.
Anyone who refers to the Prophet ﷺ as a demon (God forbid)—as Hoosein Ali of Wan Bhichianwala once did—commits blasphemy and exits the fold of Islam.
The tafsir of Surah Nisa verse 51 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Nisa ayat 49 which provides the complete commentary from verse 49 through 52.
(4:51) Have you not seen those to whom a portion of the Book was given? They believe in baseless superstitions[81] and taghut (false deities),[82] and say about the unbelievers that they are better guided than those who believe.[83]
81. Jibt signifies ‘a thing devoid of any true basis and bereft of all usefulness’. In Islamic terminology the various forms of sorcery, divination and soothsaying, in short all superstitions, are termed jibt. It is reported in a tradition that, to divine things from the cries of animals, or the traces of animals’ paws, or the flight of birds, constitutes jibt. Thus, jibt may be roughly translated as ‘superstition’. (See Abu Da’ud, Tibb’, 23; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 3, p. 477 and vol. 5, p. 60 – Ed.)
82. For explanation see (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 256-257) note 286, 288.
83. The obstinacy of the Jewish religious scholars had, reached such a point that they brazenly declared the followers of Muhammad (peace be on him) to be in greater error than even the polytheists of Arabia. This was despite the fact that they knew that the Muslims stood for absolute monotheism while their opponents believed in that undisguised polytheism which has been so vehemently denounced throughout the Bible.
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