Quran 2:79 Surah Baqarah ayat 79 Tafsir Ibn Katheer in English
﴿فَوَيْلٌ لِّلَّذِينَ يَكْتُبُونَ الْكِتَابَ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ ثُمَّ يَقُولُونَ هَٰذَا مِنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ لِيَشْتَرُوا بِهِ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا ۖ فَوَيْلٌ لَّهُم مِّمَّا كَتَبَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَوَيْلٌ لَّهُم مِّمَّا يَكْسِبُونَ﴾
[ البقرة: 79]
2:79 So woe to those who write the "scripture" with their own hands, then say, "This is from Allah," in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn.
Surah Al-Baqarah in ArabicTafsir Surah Baqarah ayat 79
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Quran 2:79 Tafsir Al-Jalalayn
So woe a severe chastisement to those who write the Scripture with their hands that is fabricating it themselves then say ‘This is from God’ that they may sell it for a small price of this world these are the Jews the ones that altered the description of the Prophet in the Torah as well as the ‘stoning’ verse and other details and rewrote them in a way different from that in which they were revealed. So woe to them for what their hands have written of fabrications and woe to them for their earnings by way of bribery rishan plural of rishwa.
Almuntakhab Fi Tafsir Alquran Alkarim
In cconsequence, woe upon those who reproduce Allah’s Book by wording it differently in a demagogic way, distorting meanings and relating them to Allah in order to exchange the truth for the vanity of the fleeting and ephemeral world. Woe betide them for their wrongful and unclean hands, they shall be miserable as a result of their sinful iniquities
Quran 2:79 Tafsir Ibn Kathir
The Meaning of `Ummi
Allah said,
وَمِنْهُمْ أُمِّيُّونَ
( And there are among them Ummyyun people ) meaning, among the People of the Book, as Mujahid stated.
Ummyyun, is plural for Ummi, that is, a person who does not write, as Abu Al-`Aliyah, Ar-Rabi`, Qatadah, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i and others said.
This meaning is clarified by Allah's statement,
لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ الْكِتَـبَ
( Who know not the Book ) meaning, are they not aware of what is in it.
Ummi was one of the descriptions of the Prophet because he was unlettered.
For instance, Allah said,
وَمَا كُنتَ تَتْلُو مِن قَبْلِهِ مِن كِتَـبٍ وَلاَ تَخُطُّهُ بِيَمِينِكَ إِذاً لاَّرْتَـبَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ
( Neither did you (O Muhammad ) read any book before it ( this Qur'an ) nor did you write any book ( whatsoever ) with your right hand.
In that case, indeed, the followers of falsehood might have doubted) ( 29:48 ).
Also, the Prophet said,
«إِنَّا أُمَّةٌ أُمِّيَّةٌ لَا نَكْتُبُ وَلَا نَحْسِبُ، الشَّهْرُ هكَذَا وَهكَذَا وَهكَذَا»
( We are an Ummi nation, neither writing nor calculating.
The (lunar ) month is like this, this and this ( i.e.
thirty or twenty-nine days. )
This Hadith stated that Muslims do not need to rely on books, or calculations to decide the timings of their acts of worship.
Allah also said,
هُوَ الَّذِى بَعَثَ فِى الأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولاً مِّنْهُمْ
( He it is Who sent among the Ummiyyin ones a Messenger (Muhammad ) from among themselves) ( 62:2 ).
The Explanation of Amani
Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn `Abbas said that Allah's statement,
إِلاَّ أَمَانِىَّ
( But they trust upon Amani ) means, "It is just a false statement that they utter with their tongues." It was also said that Amani means `wishes and hopes'.
Mujahid commented, "Allah described the Ummiyyin as not understanding any of the Book that Allah sent down to Musa, yet they create lies and falsehood." Therefore, the word Amani mentioned here refers to lying and falsehood.
Mujahid said that Allah's statement,
وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلاَّ يَظُنُّونَ
( And they but guess ) means, "They lie." Qatadah, Abu Al-`Aliyah and Ar-Rabi` said that it means, "They have evil false ideas about Allah."
Woe unto Those Criminals among the Jews
Allah said,
فَوَيْلٌ لِّلَّذِينَ يَكْتُبُونَ الْكِتَـبَ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ ثُمَّ يَقُولُونَ هَـذَا مِنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ لِيَشْتَرُواْ بِهِ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلاً
( Then Waylun (woe ) to those who write the book with their own hands and then say, "This is from Allah," to purchase with it a little price!).
This is another category of people among the Jews who called to misguidance with falsehood and lies about Allah, thriving on unjustly amassing people's property.
`Waylun ( woe )' carries meanings of destruction and perishing, and it is a well-known word in the Arabic language.
Az-Zuhri said that `Ubadydullah bin `Abdullah narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "O Muslims! How could you ask the People of the Book about anything, while the Book of Allah ( Qur'an ) that He revealed to His Prophet is the most recent Book from Him and you still read it fresh and young Allah told you that the People of the Book altered the Book of Allah, changed it and wrote another book with their own hands.
They then said, `This book is from Allah,' so that they acquired a small profit by it.
Hasn't the knowledge that came to you prohibited you from asking them By Allah! We have not seen any of them asking you about what was revealed to you." This Hadith was also collected by Al-Bukhari.
Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "The little amount here means this life and all that it contains."
Allah's statement,
فَوَيْلٌ لَّهُمْ مِّمَّا كَتَبَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَوَيْلٌ لَّهُمْ مِّمَّا يَكْسِبُونَ
( Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for that they earn thereby ) means, "Woe to them because of what they have written with their own hands, the lies, falsehood and alterations.
Woe to them because of the property that they unjustly acquired." Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn `Abbas commented,
فَوَيْلٌ لَّهُمْ
( Woe to them ), "Means the torment will be theirs because of the lies that they wrote with their own hands,
وَوَيْلٌ لَّهُمْ مِّمَّا يَكْسِبُونَ
( And woe to them for that they earn thereby ), which they unjustly acquired from people, be they commoners or otherwise."
Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi
(2:79) So woe to their learned people, who write the law with their own hands and then say to the people, "This is from Allah," so that they might gain some paltry worldly end. *90 (They do not see that) this writing of their hands will bring woe to them and what they gain thereby will lead to their ruin.
So woe to those who write the meaning
*90).
These observations relate to their rabbis.
They were not content with misinterpreting the Word of God.
They also interjected into it their readings of the Scriptures and their explanatory comments thereof, stories from their national history, superstitious ideas and fancies, philosophical doctrines and legal rules.
The result was that the Divine and the human became inextricably mixed.
They claimed, nevertheless, that the entire thing was divine! Every historical anecdote, the interpretation of every commentator, the doctrine of every theologian, and the legal deduction of every jurist that managed to find its way into the Bible became the 'Word of God'.
It was thus obligatory to believe in all that, and every deviation from it became tantamount to deviation from the true faith.
Tafsir Maarif-ul-Quran Mufti Muhammad Shafi
The Meaning of `Ummi
Allah said,
وَمِنْهُمْ أُمِّيُّونَ
( And there are among them Ummyyun people ) meaning, among the People of the Book, as Mujahid stated.
Ummyyun, is plural for Ummi, that is, a person who does not write, as Abu Al-`Aliyah, Ar-Rabi`, Qatadah, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i and others said.
This meaning is clarified by Allah's statement,
لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ الْكِتَـبَ
( Who know not the Book ) meaning, are they not aware of what is in it.
Ummi was one of the descriptions of the Prophet because he was unlettered.
For instance, Allah said,
وَمَا كُنتَ تَتْلُو مِن قَبْلِهِ مِن كِتَـبٍ وَلاَ تَخُطُّهُ بِيَمِينِكَ إِذاً لاَّرْتَـبَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ
( Neither did you (O Muhammad ) read any book before it ( this Qur'an ) nor did you write any book ( whatsoever ) with your right hand.
In that case, indeed, the followers of falsehood might have doubted) ( 29:48 ).
Also, the Prophet said,
«إِنَّا أُمَّةٌ أُمِّيَّةٌ لَا نَكْتُبُ وَلَا نَحْسِبُ، الشَّهْرُ هكَذَا وَهكَذَا وَهكَذَا»
( We are an Ummi nation, neither writing nor calculating.
The (lunar ) month is like this, this and this ( i.e.
thirty or twenty-nine days. )
This Hadith stated that Muslims do not need to rely on books, or calculations to decide the timings of their acts of worship.
Allah also said,
هُوَ الَّذِى بَعَثَ فِى الأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولاً مِّنْهُمْ
( He it is Who sent among the Ummiyyin ones a Messenger (Muhammad ) from among themselves) ( 62:2 ).
The Explanation of Amani
Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn `Abbas said that Allah's statement,
إِلاَّ أَمَانِىَّ
( But they trust upon Amani ) means, "It is just a false statement that they utter with their tongues." It was also said that Amani means `wishes and hopes'.
Mujahid commented, "Allah described the Ummiyyin as not understanding any of the Book that Allah sent down to Musa, yet they create lies and falsehood." Therefore, the word Amani mentioned here refers to lying and falsehood.
Mujahid said that Allah's statement,
وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلاَّ يَظُنُّونَ
( And they but guess ) means, "They lie." Qatadah, Abu Al-`Aliyah and Ar-Rabi` said that it means, "They have evil false ideas about Allah."
Woe unto Those Criminals among the Jews
Allah said,
فَوَيْلٌ لِّلَّذِينَ يَكْتُبُونَ الْكِتَـبَ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ ثُمَّ يَقُولُونَ هَـذَا مِنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ لِيَشْتَرُواْ بِهِ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلاً
( Then Waylun (woe ) to those who write the book with their own hands and then say, "This is from Allah," to purchase with it a little price!).
This is another category of people among the Jews who called to misguidance with falsehood and lies about Allah, thriving on unjustly amassing people's property.
`Waylun ( woe )' carries meanings of destruction and perishing, and it is a well-known word in the Arabic language.
Az-Zuhri said that `Ubadydullah bin `Abdullah narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "O Muslims! How could you ask the People of the Book about anything, while the Book of Allah ( Qur'an ) that He revealed to His Prophet is the most recent Book from Him and you still read it fresh and young Allah told you that the People of the Book altered the Book of Allah, changed it and wrote another book with their own hands.
They then said, `This book is from Allah,' so that they acquired a small profit by it.
Hasn't the knowledge that came to you prohibited you from asking them By Allah! We have not seen any of them asking you about what was revealed to you." This Hadith was also collected by Al-Bukhari.
Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "The little amount here means this life and all that it contains."
Allah's statement,
فَوَيْلٌ لَّهُمْ مِّمَّا كَتَبَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَوَيْلٌ لَّهُمْ مِّمَّا يَكْسِبُونَ
( Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for that they earn thereby ) means, "Woe to them because of what they have written with their own hands, the lies, falsehood and alterations.
Woe to them because of the property that they unjustly acquired." Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn `Abbas commented,
فَوَيْلٌ لَّهُمْ
( Woe to them ), "Means the torment will be theirs because of the lies that they wrote with their own hands,
وَوَيْلٌ لَّهُمْ مِّمَّا يَكْسِبُونَ
( And woe to them for that they earn thereby ), which they unjustly acquired from people, be they commoners or otherwise."
Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
( Therefore woe ) severe punishment, and it is said this means: a valley in hell ( be unto those who write the Scripture with their hands ) change the description and traits of Muhammad ( pbuh ) in the Book ( and then say, This is ) in the Book that has come ( from Allah, that they may purchase ) through changing and altering it ( a small gain therewith ) a small gain in terms of means of subsistence and surplus of property. ( Woe unto them ) theirs is a severe punishment ( for what their hands have written ) have altered ( and woe unto them ) and theirs is a severe punishment ( for what they earn thereby ) of unlawful earnings and bribes.
Muhammad Taqiud-Din alHilali
Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands and then say, "This is from Allah," to purchase with it a little price! Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for that they earn thereby.
We try our best to translate, keeping in mind the Italian saying: "Traduttore, traditore", which means: "Translation is a betrayal of the original text".
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