Transliteration:( Minal lazeena haadoo yuharrifoonal Kalima 'am mawaadi'ihee wa yaqooloona sami'naa wa 'asainaa wasma' ghaira musma'inw wa raa'inaa laiyam bi alsinatihim wa ta'nan fiddeen; wa law annahum qaaloo sami'naa wa ata'naa wasma' wanzurnaa lakaana khairal lahum wa aqwama wa laakil la' a'nahumul laahu bikufrihim falaa yu'minoona illaa qaleela )
169.Reason for Revelation:
Some Yahud, Refaiah bin Zaid and Malik bin Hasham etc. would shun and disregard the Holy when they would ﷺ Prophet speak to him, verbally they would say "we heard you" but inwardly they would say "we disobey", verbally they would say, "we hear you" but in their hearts they would say: "Continue not making us hear". In this manner they would give proof of their malice. This verse was revealed concerning them.
170.They would say this word RAINA twisting their tongue in such a manner that this would sound RA-EE-NA which means a shepherd or RAOONAT which derived from folly. From this we learn that any words which may have possibility of evil in them are totally forbidden to use in respect of Allah Almighty ﷺ and His Holy Prophet
171. By taunting is meant these malicious Yahud would utter such insulting words in the presence of the Holy Prophet they would go to ﷺ their friends and say if the Holy Prophet was a genuine Prophet he ﷺÂ would have understood our scheme i.e. outwardly we speak something but inwardly we mean the opposite. We use the RAINA with malicious intent. From this we learn that taunting at the Holy Prophet's knowledge is in fact taunting at the Religion of Allah Almighty. The Yahud are well known for this. therefore Allah Almighty has declared them as taunters of Religion. The present impudent and audacious people should take a lesson from this.
172. That they should have used the word UNZOORNA: "Sir look at us". rather then. RAINA when addressing the Holy Prophet at the first word would have ﷺ no implied insinuation in it.
173.From this we learn that according respect to the Holy Prophet is to our advantage, while showing disrespect to his august personality is to our disadvantage.
174. By this is meant they only believed in Allah Almighty. Rejection of Prophethood and belief in Allah Almighty alone is not sufficient for Faith. Even the Devil. too, believes in Allah Almighty alone. It could also mean that they believe in their Prophets only, but reject the Holy Prophet. This too is insufficient for Faith.
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The tafsir of Surah Nisa verse 46 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Nisa ayat 44 which provides the complete commentary from verse 44 through 46.
(4:46) Among those who have become Jews[72] there are some who alter the words from their context,[73] and make a malicious play with their tongues and seek to revile the true faith. They say: ‘We have heard and we disobey’ (sami’na wa ‘asayna),[74] ‘Do hear us, may you turn dumb’ (isma’ ghayr musma’)[75] and ‘Hearken to us’ (ra’ina). It would indeed have been better for them and more upright if they had said: ‘We have heard and we obey’ (sami’na wa ata’na)[76] and: ‘Do listen to us, and look at us (with kindness)’ (wa isma’ wa unzurna). But Allah has cursed them because of their disbelief. Scarcely do they believe.
72. It is to be noted that this expression means ‘they became Jews’, rather than ‘they were Jews’. For, originally, they were nothing but Muslims, just as the followers of every Prophet are Muslims. Only later on did they become merely ‘Jews’.
73. This signifies three things. First, that they tampered with the text of the Scripture. Second, that they misinterpreted the Scripture and thereby distorted the meanings of the verses of the Book. Third, that they came and stayed in the company of the Prophet (peace be on him) and his Companions and listened to the conversations which took place there, then went among other people and misreported what they had heard. They did this with the malicious intent of bringing the Muslims into disrepute and thereby preventing people from embracing Islam.
74. When the ordinances of God are announced to them, they loudly proclaim: Yes, we have heard’, (sami’na), but then they whisper: ‘And we disobeyed’ (‘asayna). Or else they pronounce ata’na (‘we obey’) with such a twist of the tongue that it becomes indistinguishable from ‘asayna.
75. Whenever they wanted to say something to the Prophet (peace be on him) they would say, ‘isma” (listen), but added to this the expression, ‘ghayr musma” which had several meanings. It could either be a polite expression, meaning that he was worthy of such deep respect that one should say nothing to his dislike or it could have a malicious implication, meaning that he did not deserve to be addressed by anybody. It also meant the imprecation: ‘May God turn you deaf.’
76. For an explanation of this see (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 104) note 108.
[190]- See footnote to 2:104. [191]- Or "except with little belief."
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