Surah Maidah ayat 14 Tafsir Quran 5:14

﴿وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّا نَصَارَىٰ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَهُمْ فَنَسُوا حَظًّا مِّمَّا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ فَأَغْرَيْنَا بَيْنَهُمُ الْعَدَاوَةَ وَالْبَغْضَاءَ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ۚ وَسَوْفَ يُنَبِّئُهُمُ اللَّهُ بِمَا كَانُوا يَصْنَعُونَ﴾
[ المائدة: 14]

5:14 And from those who say, "We are Christians" We took their covenant; but they forgot a portion of that of which they were reminded. So We caused among them animosity and hatred until the Day of Resurrection. And Allah is going to inform them about what they used to do.

And with those who say ‘We are Christians’ this is semantically connected to what follows We made a covenant just as We did with the Children of Israel the Jews and they have forgotten a portion of that they were reminded of in the Gospel pertaining to faith and other matters and they too broke the covenant. So We have stirred up We have caused among them enmity and hatred until the Day of Resurrection on account of their schisms and differing whims each sect charging the other with unbelief; and God will assuredly tell them in the Hereafter of what they wrought and requite them for this.

And with those who declare themselves Christians, We entered into a covenant: Never deviate from the path of righteousness and adhere faithfully to the authentic Scriptures. But they willfully neglected a part of what was imparted to them. In consequence, We stirred up enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection. Allah shall inform them of their habitual course of action relevant to their evil deeds, and punish them accordingly

Cursing the People of the Book for Breaking the Covenant Allah commanded His believing servants to fullfil the promises and pledges that He took from them and which they gave His servant and Messenger, Muhammad ﷺ.
Allah also commanded them to stand for the truth and give correct testimony.
He also reminded them of the obvious and subtle favors of the truth and guidance that He granted them.
Next, Allah informed them of the pledges and promises that He took from the People of the Book, who were before them, the Jews and Christians.
When they broke these promises and covenants, Allah cursed them as a consequence and expelled them from His grace and mercy.
He also sealed their hearts from receiving guidance and the religion of truth, beneficial knowledge and righteous actions.
Allah said, وَلَقَدْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَـقَ بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ وَبَعَثْنَا مِنهُمُ اثْنَىْ عَشَرَ نَقِيباً ( Indeed Allah took the covenant from the Children of Israel and We appointed twelve leaders among them. ) These twelve people were leaders who gave the pledge to Allah to listen and obey Allah, His Messenger and His Book on behalf of their tribes.
Muhammad bin Ishaq and Ibn `Abbas said that this occurred when Musa went to fight the mighty enemy ( in Palestine ), and Allah commanded him to choose a leader from every tribe. The Leaders of Ansar on the Night of `Aqabah Likewise, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ took the pledge from the Ansar in the `Aqabah area, there were twelve leaders from the Ansar.
There were three men from the tribe of Aws: Usayd bin Al-Hudayr, Sa`d bin Khaythamah and Rifa`ah bin `Abdul-Mundhir, or Abu Al-Haytham bin At-Tayhan.
There were nine people from the tribe of Khazraj: Abu Umamah As`ad bin Zurarah, Sa`d bin Ar-Rabi`, `Abdullah bin Rawahah, Rafi` bin Malik bin Al-`Ajlan, Al-Bara' bin Ma`rur, `Ubadah bin As-Samit, Sa`d bin `Ubadah, `Abdullah bin `Amr bin Haram and Al-Mundhir bin `Umar bin Khunays.
Ka`b bin Malik mentioned these men in his poem, as recorded by Ibn Ishaq.On that night, these men were the leaders or representatives of their tribes by the command of the Prophet .
They gave the pledge and promise of allegiance and obedience to the Prophet on behalf of their people.
Allah said, وَقَالَ اللَّهُ إِنِّى مَعَكُمْ ( And Allah said, "I am with you... ) with My protection, support and aid, لَئِنْ أَقَمْتُمُ الصَّلوةَ وَءَاتَيْتُمْ الزَّكَوةَ وَءَامَنتُمْ بِرُسُلِى ( if you perform the Salah and give the Zakah and believe in My Messengers; ) concerning what they bring you of the revelation, وَعَزَّرْتُمُوهُمْ ( honor and assist them... ) and support them on the truth, وَأَقْرَضْتُمُ اللَّهَ قَرْضاً حَسَناً ( and lend to Allah a good loan... ) by spending in His cause, seeking to please Him. لأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنْكُمْ سَيِّئَـتِكُمْ ( verily, I will remit your sins ) and errors, I will erase them, cover them, and will not punish you for them, وَلأدْخِلَنَّكُمْ جَنَّـتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا الاٌّنْهَـرُ ( and admit you to Gardens under which rivers flow (in Paradise ).) thus, protecting you from what you fear and granting you what you seek. Breaking the Covenant Allah said, فَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ مِنْكُمْ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَآءَ السَّبِيلِ ( But if any of you after this, disbelieved, he has indeed gone astray from the straight way. ) Therefore, those who break this covenant, even though they pledged and vowed to keep it, yet, they broke it and denied it ever existed, they have avoided the clear path and deviated from the path of guidance to the path of misguidance.
Allah then mentioned the punishment that befell those who broke His covenant and the pledge they gave Him, فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِم مِّيثَـقَهُمْ لَعنَّـهُمْ ( So because of their breach of their covenant, We cursed them... ) Allah states, because of their breaking the promise that We took from them, We cursed them, deviated them away from the truth, and expelled them from guidance, وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَاسِيَةً ( and made their hearts grow hard... ) and they do not heed any word of advice that they hear, because of the hardness of their hearts. يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِ ( They change the words from their (right ) places...) Since their comprehension became corrupt, they behaved treacherously with Allah's Ayat, altering His Book from its apparent meanings which He sent down, and distorting its indications.
They attributed to Allah what He did not say, and we seek refuge with Allah from such behavior. وَنَسُواْ حَظَّا مِّمَّا ذُكِرُواْ بِهِ ( and have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them. ) by not implementing it and by ignoring it.
Allah said next, وَلاَ تَزَالُ تَطَّلِعُ عَلَى خَآئِنَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ ( And you will not cease to discover deceit in them, ) such as their plots and treachery against you, O Muhammad, and your Companions.
Mujahid said that this Ayah refers to their plot to kill the Messenger of Allah ﷺ . فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاصْفَحْ ( But forgive them, and overlook (their misdeeds ).) This, indeed, is the ultimate victory and triumph.
Some of the Salaf said, "You would never treat those who disobey Allah with you better than obeying Allah with them." This way, their hearts will gather around the truth and Allah might lead them to the right guidance.
This is why Allah said, إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ( Verily, Allah loves the doers of good. ) Therefore, forgive those who err against you.
Qatadah said that this Ayah was abrogated with Allah's statement, قَـتِلُواْ الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلاَ بِالْيَوْمِ الاٌّخِرِ ( Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day ). The Christians Also Broke their Covenant with Allah and the Repercussion of this Behavior Allah said, وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ قَالُواْ إِنَّا نَصَـرَى أَخَذْنَا مِيثَـقَهُمْ ( And from those who call themselves Christians, We took their covenant, ) Meaning: `From those who call themselves Christians and followers of `Isa, son of Maryam, while in fact they are not as they claim.
We took from them the covenant and pledges that they would follow the Prophet , aid him, honor him and follow his footsteps.' And that they would believe in every Prophet whom Allah sends to the people of the earth.
They imitated the Jews and broke the promises and the pledges.
This is why Allah said, فَنَسُواْ حَظّاً مِّمَّا ذُكِرُواْ بِهِ فَأَغْرَيْنَا بَيْنَهُمُ الْعَدَاوَةَ وَالْبَغْضَآءَ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ ( but they have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them.
So We planted amongst them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection; ) Meaning: `We planted enmity and hatred between them, and they will remain like this until the Day of Resurrection.' Indeed, the numerous Christian sects have always been enemies and adversaries of each other, accusing each other of heresy and cursing each other.
Each sect among them excommunicates the other sects and does not allow them entrance to their places of worship.
The Monarchist sect accuses the Jacobite sect of heresy, and such is the case with the Nestorians and the Arians.
Each sect among them will continue to accuse the other of disbelief and heresy in this life and on the Day when the Witnesses will come forth.
Allah then said, وَسَوْفَ يُنَبِّئُهُمُ اللَّهُ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَصْنَعُونَ ( and Allah will inform them of what they used to do. ) warning and threatening the Christians because of their lies against Allah and His Messenger and their false claims about Allah, hallowed be He above what they say about Him.
The Christians attribute a companion and a son to Allah, while He is the One and Only, the All-Sufficient, Who neither begets nor was He begotten, and there is none like unto Him.

(5:14) We also took a covenant from those who said: 'We are Christians'; *36 but they forgot a good portion of the teaching they had been imparted with. Wherefore We aroused enmity and spite between them till the Day of Resurrection, and ultimately Allah will tell them what they had contrived.

And from those who say, "We are meaning

*36).
Some are of the opinion that the word Nasara ( meaning Christians ) is derived from Nasirah ( Nazareth ), the birth-place of the Messiah.
In fact this word is not derived from Nasirah ( Nazareth ) but from the word nusrah, and the basis of this derivation is the question posed by the Messiah to his disciples: 'Who are my supporters ( ansari ) in the way of God?' In response to this they had said: 'We are the supporters ( ansar ) ( in the way ) of God.' Christian authors have been misled by the resemblance between the words Nasirah and Nasara into believing that the name of the sect founded in the early history of Christianity, and contemptuously characterized as either Nazarenes or Ebonites served as the basis of the Qur'anic designation of the Christians.
But here the Qur'ijo categorically states that they had declared that they were 'Nasara' and it is obvious that the Christians never called themselves 'Nazarenes'.

In this connection it should be recalled that Jesus never called his followers 'Christians' for he had not come to found a new religion named after him.
His mission was to revive the religion of Moses and of all the Prophets who preceded him as well as of the one who was to appear after him.
Hence, he neither formed any cult divorced from the Israelites and the followers of the Mosaic Law nor designated his followers by any distinctive name.
Likewise, his early followers neither considered themselves to be separate from the Israelite community nor developed into an independent group nor adopted any distinctive symbol and name.
They worshipped in the temple of Jerusalem along with other Jews and considered themselves to be followers of the Mosaic Law ( see Acts 3:1-10; 21: 14-15,21 ).
Later on the process of alienation began to operate on both sides.
On the one hand, Paul, one of the followers of Jesus, declared independence from the Mosaic Law holding that faith in Christ was all that one needed for salvation.
On the other hand, the Jewish rabbis declared the followers of Christ to be heretics and excommunicated them.
Despite this, for some time the new sect had no distinct appellation of its own.
The followers of Christ variously described themselves as 'disciples', as 'brethren', as 'those who believed', and as 'saints' ( see Acts 2: 44; 4: 32; 9: 26; 11: 29; 13: 52; 15: 1; 23: 1 and Romans 15: 25 and Colossians 1: 2 ).
The Jews sometimes designated them as 'Galileans' and as 'the sect of Nazarenes' ( see Acts 24: 5; Luke 13: 2 ).
These nicknames, which were originally contrived in,.ojder to ridicule them, referred to Nazareth, the home town of Jesus in the district of Galilee.
These names, however, did not gain sufficient popularity to become the permanent names of the followers of Christ.
They were called 'Christians' for the first time by the people of Antioch in 43 A.D.
or 44 A.D.
when Paul and Barnabas went there and began to preach their religion ( Acts 11: 26 ).
This appellation was flung at them by the opponents of the followers of Christ precisely in order to tease them by using an appellation which was unacceptable to them.
But when their enemies began to call them consistently by this name their leaders reacted by saying that if they were called Christians because of their allegiance to Christ they had no reason to be ashamed of it ( 1 Peter 4: 16 ).
It was thus that the followers of Christ also gradually began to call themselves by the same name which had originally been conferred upon them sarcastically.
In the course of time the Christians ceased to realize that theirs had originally been a derogatory appellation chosen for them by outsiders rather than by themselves.

The Qur'an, therefore, does not refer to the followers of Christ as Christians.
It reminds them rather that they belong to those who responded to the query of Jesus: 'Who are my supporters ( ansari ) in the way of God?' by saying that they were his ansar ( supporters ) in God's cause.
( See Surah al-Saff 61: 14 - Ed. ) It is an irony of fate that far from feeling grateful at being referred to by a dignified appellation Christian missionaries take offence at the fact that the Qur'an designates them as Nasara rather than as 'Christians'.

 

Cursing the People of the Book for Breaking the Covenant Allah commanded His believing servants to fullfil the promises and pledges that He took from them and which they gave His servant and Messenger, Muhammad ﷺ.
Allah also commanded them to stand for the truth and give correct testimony.
He also reminded them of the obvious and subtle favors of the truth and guidance that He granted them.
Next, Allah informed them of the pledges and promises that He took from the People of the Book, who were before them, the Jews and Christians.
When they broke these promises and covenants, Allah cursed them as a consequence and expelled them from His grace and mercy.
He also sealed their hearts from receiving guidance and the religion of truth, beneficial knowledge and righteous actions.
Allah said, وَلَقَدْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَـقَ بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ وَبَعَثْنَا مِنهُمُ اثْنَىْ عَشَرَ نَقِيباً ( Indeed Allah took the covenant from the Children of Israel and We appointed twelve leaders among them. ) These twelve people were leaders who gave the pledge to Allah to listen and obey Allah, His Messenger and His Book on behalf of their tribes.
Muhammad bin Ishaq and Ibn `Abbas said that this occurred when Musa went to fight the mighty enemy ( in Palestine ), and Allah commanded him to choose a leader from every tribe. The Leaders of Ansar on the Night of `Aqabah Likewise, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ took the pledge from the Ansar in the `Aqabah area, there were twelve leaders from the Ansar.
There were three men from the tribe of Aws: Usayd bin Al-Hudayr, Sa`d bin Khaythamah and Rifa`ah bin `Abdul-Mundhir, or Abu Al-Haytham bin At-Tayhan.
There were nine people from the tribe of Khazraj: Abu Umamah As`ad bin Zurarah, Sa`d bin Ar-Rabi`, `Abdullah bin Rawahah, Rafi` bin Malik bin Al-`Ajlan, Al-Bara' bin Ma`rur, `Ubadah bin As-Samit, Sa`d bin `Ubadah, `Abdullah bin `Amr bin Haram and Al-Mundhir bin `Umar bin Khunays.
Ka`b bin Malik mentioned these men in his poem, as recorded by Ibn Ishaq.On that night, these men were the leaders or representatives of their tribes by the command of the Prophet .
They gave the pledge and promise of allegiance and obedience to the Prophet on behalf of their people.
Allah said, وَقَالَ اللَّهُ إِنِّى مَعَكُمْ ( And Allah said, "I am with you... ) with My protection, support and aid, لَئِنْ أَقَمْتُمُ الصَّلوةَ وَءَاتَيْتُمْ الزَّكَوةَ وَءَامَنتُمْ بِرُسُلِى ( if you perform the Salah and give the Zakah and believe in My Messengers; ) concerning what they bring you of the revelation, وَعَزَّرْتُمُوهُمْ ( honor and assist them... ) and support them on the truth, وَأَقْرَضْتُمُ اللَّهَ قَرْضاً حَسَناً ( and lend to Allah a good loan... ) by spending in His cause, seeking to please Him. لأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنْكُمْ سَيِّئَـتِكُمْ ( verily, I will remit your sins ) and errors, I will erase them, cover them, and will not punish you for them, وَلأدْخِلَنَّكُمْ جَنَّـتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا الاٌّنْهَـرُ ( and admit you to Gardens under which rivers flow (in Paradise ).) thus, protecting you from what you fear and granting you what you seek. Breaking the Covenant Allah said, فَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ مِنْكُمْ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَآءَ السَّبِيلِ ( But if any of you after this, disbelieved, he has indeed gone astray from the straight way. ) Therefore, those who break this covenant, even though they pledged and vowed to keep it, yet, they broke it and denied it ever existed, they have avoided the clear path and deviated from the path of guidance to the path of misguidance.
Allah then mentioned the punishment that befell those who broke His covenant and the pledge they gave Him, فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِم مِّيثَـقَهُمْ لَعنَّـهُمْ ( So because of their breach of their covenant, We cursed them... ) Allah states, because of their breaking the promise that We took from them, We cursed them, deviated them away from the truth, and expelled them from guidance, وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَاسِيَةً ( and made their hearts grow hard... ) and they do not heed any word of advice that they hear, because of the hardness of their hearts. يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِ ( They change the words from their (right ) places...) Since their comprehension became corrupt, they behaved treacherously with Allah's Ayat, altering His Book from its apparent meanings which He sent down, and distorting its indications.
They attributed to Allah what He did not say, and we seek refuge with Allah from such behavior. وَنَسُواْ حَظَّا مِّمَّا ذُكِرُواْ بِهِ ( and have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them. ) by not implementing it and by ignoring it.
Allah said next, وَلاَ تَزَالُ تَطَّلِعُ عَلَى خَآئِنَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ ( And you will not cease to discover deceit in them, ) such as their plots and treachery against you, O Muhammad, and your Companions.
Mujahid said that this Ayah refers to their plot to kill the Messenger of Allah ﷺ . فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاصْفَحْ ( But forgive them, and overlook (their misdeeds ).) This, indeed, is the ultimate victory and triumph.
Some of the Salaf said, "You would never treat those who disobey Allah with you better than obeying Allah with them." This way, their hearts will gather around the truth and Allah might lead them to the right guidance.
This is why Allah said, إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ( Verily, Allah loves the doers of good. ) Therefore, forgive those who err against you.
Qatadah said that this Ayah was abrogated with Allah's statement, قَـتِلُواْ الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلاَ بِالْيَوْمِ الاٌّخِرِ ( Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day ). The Christians Also Broke their Covenant with Allah and the Repercussion of this Behavior Allah said, وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ قَالُواْ إِنَّا نَصَـرَى أَخَذْنَا مِيثَـقَهُمْ ( And from those who call themselves Christians, We took their covenant, ) Meaning: `From those who call themselves Christians and followers of `Isa, son of Maryam, while in fact they are not as they claim.
We took from them the covenant and pledges that they would follow the Prophet , aid him, honor him and follow his footsteps.' And that they would believe in every Prophet whom Allah sends to the people of the earth.
They imitated the Jews and broke the promises and the pledges.
This is why Allah said, فَنَسُواْ حَظّاً مِّمَّا ذُكِرُواْ بِهِ فَأَغْرَيْنَا بَيْنَهُمُ الْعَدَاوَةَ وَالْبَغْضَآءَ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ ( but they have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them.
So We planted amongst them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection; ) Meaning: `We planted enmity and hatred between them, and they will remain like this until the Day of Resurrection.' Indeed, the numerous Christian sects have always been enemies and adversaries of each other, accusing each other of heresy and cursing each other.
Each sect among them excommunicates the other sects and does not allow them entrance to their places of worship.
The Monarchist sect accuses the Jacobite sect of heresy, and such is the case with the Nestorians and the Arians.
Each sect among them will continue to accuse the other of disbelief and heresy in this life and on the Day when the Witnesses will come forth.
Allah then said, وَسَوْفَ يُنَبِّئُهُمُ اللَّهُ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَصْنَعُونَ ( and Allah will inform them of what they used to do. ) warning and threatening the Christians because of their lies against Allah and His Messenger and their false claims about Allah, hallowed be He above what they say about Him.
The Christians attribute a companion and a son to Allah, while He is the One and Only, the All-Sufficient, Who neither begets nor was He begotten, and there is none like unto Him.

( And with those who say: " Lo! we are Christians " ), i.e. the Christians of Najran ( We made a covenant ) in the Gospel that they should follow Muhammad ( pbuh ) and manifest his traits and not worship anyone or anything except Allah or associate anyone with Him, ( but they forgot a part ) they left part ( of that whereof they were admonished ) with which they were commanded. ( Therefore We have stirred up ) We have cast ( enmity ) killing and destruction ( and hatred ) in the hearts ( among them ) between the Jews and Christians; and it is said between the Nestorians of Najran, the sects known as the Jacobites, the Marqusiyya and the Melkites ( till the Day of Resurrection, when Allah will inform them of their handiwork ) of their opposition, treachery, concealment, enmity and hatred.

And from those who call themselves Christians, We took their covenant, but they have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them. So We planted amongst them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection (when they discarded Allah's Book, disobeyed Allah's Messengers and His Orders and transgressed beyond bounds in Allah's disobedience), and Allah will inform them of what they used to do.

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