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settled by the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. When the hypocrite saw his 
insistence, he went with him to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and his 
judgement was in favour of the Jew. When they left, the hypocrite stuck to the Jew and said to him: “Let us 
go to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab”, and they went to him. The Jew said to him: “I and this man took our dispute to 
Muhammad and his judgement was in my favour, but this man is not happy with his judgement and claimed 
that he wants you to judge between us. And since he did not let me go, I came with him”. 'Umar said to the 
hypocrite: “Is this the case?” “Yes!” replied the hypocrite. 'Umar said: “Wait for me a moment until I come 
back”. 'Umar then entered his house, got his sword went back to the hypocrite and killed him. He said: “This 
is how I judge for he who does not accept Allah's judgement and the judgement of His Messenger”. The Jew 
ran away. This verse was then revealed. Gabriel, peace be upon him, said: “'Umar has differentiated 

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between the truth and falsehood”, and so he was named al-Faruq [the distinguisher]. Said al-Suddi: “Some 
Jewish people had embraced Islam while others were mere hypocrites. In the pre-Islamic period the custom 
between the clans of Qurayzah and al-Nadir was that if a man from Banu Qurayzah killed another from 
Banu'l-Nadir, the killer was killed in retaliation and a hundred wasq [pl. Awsuq; one wasq = 60 sa'] of dates 
were paid in surplus as blood money. But when a man from Banu'l-Nadir killed another from Banu Qurayzah, 
the killer was not killed in retaliation and only sixty wasq of dates were paid as blood money. Banu'l-Nadir 
were the allies of the Aws. They were larger and their pedigree nobler than that of Banu Qurayzah who were 
the allies of the Khazraj. Then it happened that a man from the Banu'l-Nadir killed another from Banu 
Qurayzah and a dispute ensued because of this. Banu'l-Nadir said: 'We had an agreement in the pre-Islamic 
period that retaliation is exacted from you but not from us and that your blood money is sixty wasq while 
the blood money due to us is one hundred wasq. And so we will give you your due'. The Khazraj said: 'This 
is something you did in the pre-Islamic period because you were greater in number and we were few. 
Today, we are brothers and our religion is the same as yours. You do not have any merit over us'. The 
hypocrites said: ''Let us go to Abu Burdah al-Aslami, the soothsayer, to judge between us. The Muslims said: 
'No, but rather let us go to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace'. The hypocrites refused and 
went instead to Abu Burdah to judge between them. Abu Burdah said to them: 'Increase the bribe!' They 
said: 'We will give you ten awsuq!' He said: 'I will take a hundred as my blood money, for I fear if I judge in 
favour of the man from Banu'l-Nadir, Banu Qurayzah will kill me; and if I judge in favour of the man from 
Banu Qurayzah, Banu'l-Nadir will kill me'. When they refused to give him more than ten awsuq, he refused 
to judge between them. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed this verse and the Prophet, Allah bless him and 
give him peace, called the soothsayer of Aslam to embrace Islam. He refused to do so and left. The Prophet, 
Allah bless him and give him peace, said to the two sons of the soothsayer: 'Go after your father, for if he 
goes beyond such-and-such limit he will never accept Islam'. They caught up with him and kept persuading 
him until he went back and embraced Islam. The Prophet, Allah, bless him and give him peace, commanded 
a crier to go round and cry: 'The soothsayer of Aslam has embraced Islam' ”. 
 
[4:65]
 
 
(But nay, by thy Lord, they will not believe (in truth) until they make thee judge of what is in dispute 
between them…) [4:65]. This was revealed about al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam and his adversary Hatib ibn Abi 
Balta'ah, and it was also said that his adversary was Tha'labah ibn Hatib. Abu Sa'id 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 
Hamdan informed us> Ahmad ibn Ja'far ibn Malik> 'Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal> his father> Abu'l-
Yaman> Shu'ayb> al-Zuhri> 'Urwah ibn al-Zubayr> his father that he used to relate that he once went to 
the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, to settle a dispute he had with one of the Helpers who had 
participated in the Battle of Badr regarding a water conduit which they both used to water their land. The 
Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to al-Zubayr: “Water your land first and then let the water 
flow to your neighbour”. The Helper got angry and said: “O Messenger of Allah! You judged in this way 
because he is the son of your maternal aunt”. Upon hearing this, the face of the Messenger of Allah, Allah 
bless him and give him peace, flushed. He then said to al-Zubayr: “Water your land and then block the 
water until it goes back to its source”. In this way the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him 
peace, gave al-Zubayr his full right. His first command to al-Zubayr was made because he wanted to make it 
easy on both al-Zubayr and the Helper. But when the Helper protested against the judgement of the 
Messenger of Allah, he gave al-Zubayr his full right as he deserved this judgement in the first place. Said 
'Urwah: “By Allah, I do not think that this verse (But nay, by thy Lord, they will not believe (in truth) until 
they make thee judge of what is in dispute between them and find within themselves no dislike of that 
which thou decidest, and submit with full submission) was revealed about other than this incident”. This was 
narrated by Bukhari> 'Ali ibn 'Abd Allah> Muhammad ibn Ja'far> Ma'mar, and also by Muslim> Qutaybah> 
al-Layth and both al-Layth and Ma'mar related it from al-Zuhri. Abu 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hamid informed 
us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Hafiz> Abu Ahmad Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-
Hasan al-Shaybani> Ahmad ibn Hammad ibn Zughbah> Hamid ibn Yahya ibn Hani' al-Balkhi> Sufyan> 'Amr 
ibn Dinar> Abu Salamah> Umm Salamah who related that al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam had a dispute with a 
man and the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, judged in his favour. The man said 
that he judged in his favour because he was his cousin. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (But nay, by 
thy Lord, they will not believe…). 
 
[4:69]
 

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(Whoso obeyeth Allah and the messenger…) [4:69]. Said al-Kalbi: “This verse was revealed about Thawban, 
the client of Allah’s Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace. Thawban loved the Prophet dearly such 
that he could not bear not seeing him for long periods. One day Thawban showed up with his complexion 
changed, he had lost weight and the signs of sadness were evident on his face. The Messenger of Allah, 
Allah bless him and give him peace, said to him: ‘O Thawban, what has made your complexion change?’ He 
said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I am not suffering from any harm or pain, except that when I do not see you, I 
miss you and feel intense longing for you which does not cease until I meet you. Then I remember the 
Afterlife and I fear that I will not see you there. I know that you will be raised high up with the Prophets 
whereas if I enter the Garden, I will be in a rank much lower than yours, and if I do not enter the Garden, it 
will be certain that I will never see you’. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. Isma‘il ibn Abi Nasr 
informed us> Ibrahim al-Nasrabadhi> ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Ali al-Jawhari> ‘Abd Allah ibn Mahmud al-
Sa‘di> Musa ibn Yahya> ‘Ubaydah> Mansur> Muslim ibn Subayh> Masruq who reported that the 
Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “We should not part your 
company in this world, for if you were to leave us, you will be raised above us”, and so Allah, exalted is He, 
revealed (Whoso obeyeth Allah and the messenger, they are with those unto whom Allah hath shown 
favour, of the prophets and the saints and the martyrs and the righteous…). Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 
Ibrahim informed us> Shu‘ayb> Makki> Abu’l-Azhar> Rawh> Sa‘id> Shu‘bah> Qatadah who said: “It was 
mentioned to us that some men said to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace: ‘O Prophet of 
Allah, we now see you in this world. But in the Afterlife you shall be raised above us because of your merit 
and we will not see you then', and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. Abu Nu‘aym al-Hafiz 
informed, among that which he gave me authorisation to relate from him>Sulayman ibn Ahmad al-Lakhmi> 
Ahmad ibn ‘Amr al-Khallal> ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Imran al-‘Abidi> Fudayl ibn ‘Iyad> Mansur> Ibrahim> al-Aswad> 
‘A’ishah who said: “A man came to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: ‘O 
Messenger of Allah, you are more beloved to me than my own person, wife and children. Whenever I 
remember you when I am sitting in my house I do not rest until I come and look at you. And when I 
remember my eventual death and yours, I realise that when you enter the Garden you will be raised with 
the Prophets, while, even if I do enter it, I fear that I will not see you’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless 
him and give him peace, did not answer him until Gabriel, peace be upon him, came down with this verse 
(Whoso obeyeth Allah and the messenger, they are with those unto whom Allah hath shown favour, of the 
prophets and the saints and the martyrs and the righteous…)”.  
 
[4:77]
 
 
(Hast thou not seen those unto whom it was said: Withhold your hands…) [4:77]. Said al-Kalbi: “This verse 
was revealed about some Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, 
among whom were ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf, al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, Qudamah ibn Maz‘un and Sa‘d ibn Abi 
Waqqas. These Companions were subjected to a lot of harm from the idolaters. They used to say: ‘O 
Messenger of Allah, allow us to fight them’, but his answer was always: ‘Keep your hands off them, for I 
have not been commanded to fight them’. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him 
peace, migrated to Medina and Allah, exalted is He, commanded them to fight the idolaters, some of them 
disliked fighting and found it very hard. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. Sa‘id ibn 
Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-‘Adl informed us> Abu ‘Amr Hamdan> al-Hasan ibn Sufyan> Muhammad ibn ‘Ali> 
his father> al-Husayn ibn Waqid> ‘Amr ibn Dinar> ‘Ikrimah> Ibn ‘Abbas who related that ‘Abd al-Rahman 
ibn ‘Awf and some of his fellow companions went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, in 
Mecca and said: “O Prophet of Allah, we were mighty when we were idolaters but now that we are believers 
we became humiliated”. He said to them: “I am commanded to pardon, do not fight these people”. But 
when Allah, exalted is He, made him move to Medina, He commanded him to fight, they withheld their 
hands, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Hast thou not seen those unto whom it was said: Withhold 
your hands…).  
 
[4:78]
 
 
(Wheresoever ye may be, death will overtake you…) [4:78]. Said Ibn ‘Abbas, according to the narration of 
Abu Salih: “When some Muslims were martyred in Uhud, the hypocrites who failed to join in the fighting 
said: ‘If our brothers who were killed remained with us, they would not have died or been killed’. Allah, 

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exalted is He, then revealed this verse”.  
 
[4:88]
 
 
(What aileth you that ye are become two parties regarding the hypocrites…) [4:88]. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim 
ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya informed us> Abu 'Amr Isma'il ibn Najid> Yusuf ibn Ya'qub al-Qadi> 'Amr ibn 
Marzuq> Shu'bah> 'Adiyy ibn Thabit> 'Abd Allah ibn Yazid ibn Thabit who reported that a group of people 
initially accompanied the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to Uhud but then turned 
back and returned to Medina. The Muslims were divided in their opinions about them. Some of them were of 
the opinion that they should be killed while others thought they should be spared, and so this verse was 
revealed. This was revealed by Bukhari> Bundar> Ghundar and also by Muslim> 'Abd Allah ibn Mu'adh> his 
father; and both transmitters (Ghundar and Ibn Mu'adh's father) related it from Shu'bah. 'Abd al-Rahman 
ibn Hamdan al-'Adl informed us> Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ja'far ibn Malik> 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal> 
his father> al-Aswad ibn 'Amir> Hammad ibn Salamah> Muhammad ibn Ishaq> Yazid ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 
Qusayt> Abu Salamah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman> his father who related that a group of Arabs came to the 
Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and embraced Islam. Then they contracted the 
illness and fever that was going round in Medina and, as a result, renounced Islam and left Medina. They 
were met by a group among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace 
who asked them: “Why did you leave Medina?” They replied: “We contracted the illness of Medina and for 
this reason we disliked remaining there”. The Companions said: “Do you not have a good example in the 
person of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace?” Some of the Companions were of 
the opinion that these Arabs were hypocrites while others thought they were still Muslims. And because of 
this difference of opinion, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (What aileth you that ye are become two parties 
regarding the hypocrites…). Mujahid said apropos this verse: “This was revealed about some people who left 
Mecca to Medina, claiming to be Emigrants. They then renounced Islam and asked permission from the 
Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, to go to Mecca to bring some merchandise with which to trade. 
The believers were divided in their opinions about this matter. Some thought that these people were 
hypocrites while others were of the opinion they were believers. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed their 
hypocrisy by means of this verse and commanded that they be executed in His saying (if they turn back (to 
enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them…) [4:89]. They took their merchandise 
intending to go to Hilal ibn 'Uwaymir al-Aslami, who had a treaty of alliance with the Prophet, Allah bless him 
and give him peace, and it is he who was vexed to fight the believers, and so fighting was suspended by the 
saying of Allah, exalted is He, (Except those who seek refuge with a people between whom and you there is 
a covenant…) [4:90]”.  
 
[4:92]
 
 
(It is not for a believer to kill a believer unless (it be) by mistake…) [4:92]. Abu ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Ishaq 
informed us> Abu ‘Amr ibn Nujayd> Abu Muslim Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd Allah> Ibn Hajjaj> Hammad> Muhammad 
ibn Ishaq> ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Qasim> his father who reported that al-Harith ibn Shadid was hard on the 
Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. He was on his way to embrace Islam when he was met by 
‘Ayyash ibn Abi Rabi‘ah, and not realising that al-Harith wanted to embrace Islam, he killed him. And so 
Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (It is not for a believer to kill a believer unless (it be) by mistake…). 
Al-Kalbi explained this event, saying: “‘Ayyash ibn Abi Rabi‘ah al-Makhzumi had embraced Islam but was 
fearful of coming in the open about it. He fled to Medina and took refuge in one of its fortresses. His mother 
was distressed a great deal. She said to her two sons Abu Jahl and al-Harith ibn Hisham, who were his half 
brothers from his mother’s side: ‘By Allah, I will stay outside in the sun, not eating or drinking, until you 
bring him back to me’. And they went looking for him, accompanied by al-Harith ibn Zayd ibn Abi Anisah, 
until they reached Medina. They went to ‘Ayyash in his fortress, and said to him: ‘Come down, your mother 
has not entered the confines of a house since you left. She has also sworn that she will not eat or drink until 
you go back to her. By Allah we give you assurance that we will not coerce you to do anything nor will we 
come between you and your religion’. When they mentioned his mother’s distress and gave him their 
assurance, he came down to them. They took him out of Medina, tied him up with strings and whipped him 
a hundred lashes each, and then took him to his mother. His mother said to him: ‘I will not untie your fetters 
until you disbelieve in that which you have believed’, and he was left fettered in the sun until he gave them 
some of what they had wanted. Al-Harith ibn Yazid went to him and said: ‘O ‘Ayyash, by Allah, if that which 

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you followed was guidance, you have now left it, and if it was error, you were already in error’. ‘Ayyash got 
very angry because of what al-Harith said to him and this prompted him to say to him: ‘By Allah, I will kill 
you if I find you alone’. Afterwards, ‘Ayyash embraced Islam and migrated to the Messenger of Allah, Allah 
bless him and give him peace, in Medina. Al-Harith ibn Yazid also embraced Islam and migrated to Medina. 
This happened at a time when ‘Ayyash was not present. As such, he was unaware of al-Harith becoming 
Muslim. As he was walking outside Quba’, he met al-Harith ibn Yazid. When he saw him, he attacked and 
killed him. People said to him: ‘What on earth have you done? He had become Muslim!’ ‘Ayyash went back 
to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, you know 
what happened between me and al-Harith; I was unaware of his acceptance of Islam and I killed him’. And 
so Gabriel, peace be upon him, came down with the words of Allah, exalted is He, (It is not for a believer to 
kill a believer unless (it be) by mistake…)”.  
 
[4:93]
 
 
(Whoso slayeth a believer of set purpose…) [4:93]. Said Ibn ‘Abbas, according to the report of al-Kalbi from 
Abu Salih: “Maqis ibn Subabah, who was Muslim, found his brother Hisham murdered at Banu’l-Najjar. He 
went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and mentioned what had happened to 
him. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent with him an emissary from Banu Fihr 
and said to him: ‘Go to Banu’l-Najjar, greet them with the greeting of peace and say to them: ‘The 
Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commands you, if you know the killer of Hisham ibn 
Subabah, to hand him over to his brother to exact his retaliation; and if you do not know the killer, to pay 
him the blood money’. ‘The man from Fihr conveyed to them the message of the Prophet, Allah bless him 
and give him peace, and they said: ‘We hear and obey Allah and His Messenger. By Allah, we do not know 
who the killer is, but we are willing to pay the blood money’. They gave him one hundred camels and they 
headed toward Medina. When they were very close to Medina, the devil whispered to Miqyas: ‘What have 
you done? Your acceptance of your brother’s blood money will be a slur on you. Kill the person who is with 
you and it would be as if you have avenged your brother in surplus of the blood money’. Miqyas did just 
that. He fractured the skull of the man from Fihr with a rock, rode a camel and drove away the rest to 
Mecca. He went back to Mecca as a disbeliever. Through him I avenged Fihr and charged his blood-wit To 
the chiefs of Banu’l-Najjar, the lords of Fari‘ castle. By killing him I gave vent to my vengeance and eased 
my tension, And was the first to return to the idols. This verse was then revealed (Whoso slayeth a believer 
of set purpose…). The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, sentenced him to death upon the 
conquest of Mecca. He was chased and captured by some people in the market place and executed”.  
 
[4:94]
 
 
(O ye who believe! When ye go forth (to fight) in the way of Allah, be careful to discriminate…) [4:94]. Abu 
Ibrahim Isma'il ibn Ibrahim al-Wa'iz informed me> Abu'l-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamid> Ahmad 
ibn al-Husayn ibn 'Abd al-Jabbar> Muhammad ibn 'Abbad> Sufyan> 'Amr>> 'Ata'> Ibn 'Abbas who said: 
“Some Muslims chased a man for his booty. When they got to him, he said: 'Peace be with you'. But they 
killed him and took his booty. The verse was then revealed (… and say not unto one who offereth you 
peace: “Thou art not a believer”, seeking the chance profits of this life), i.e. that booty”. This was narrated 
by Bukhari from 'Ali ibn 'Abd Allah and also by Muslim from Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah; and both transmitters 
related it from Sufyan. Isma'il informed us> Abu 'Amr ibn Nujayd> Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Khalil> 
Abu Kurayb> 'Ubayd Allah> Isra'il> Simak> 'Ikrimah> Ibn 'Abbas who said: “A man from Sulaym who had 
sheep with him passed by a group of Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him 
peace. He greeted them with the greeting of peace, but they said to each other: 'He greeted you with the 
greeting of peace only to seek refuge from you'. And so they killed him and took his sheep and went to the 
Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, after which Allah, exalted is He, revealed (O ye who 
believe! When ye go forth (to fight) in the way of Allah, be careful to discriminate)”. Abu Bakr al-Asfahani 
informed us> Abu'l-Shaykh al-Hafiz> Abu Yahya al-Razi> Sahl ibn 'Uthman> Waki'> Sufyan> Habib ibn Abi 
'Amrah> Sa'id ibn Jubayr who said: “Al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad went out one day at the head of a military 
expedition and they came across a man with some possession. They wanted to kill him, but the man said: 
'There is no god but Allah!' Despite this, al-Miqdad went ahead and killed him. He was told: 'How can you kill 
a man who has said, there is no god but Allah? He would have rather fled with his family and property'. 
When they went back to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, they mentioned what 

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had happened, and the verse (O ye who believe! When ye go forth (to fight) in the way of Allah, be careful 
to discriminate) was revealed”. Said al-Hasan: “The Companions of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give 
him peace, went out in a reconnaissance patrol. While they were there, they met with some idolaters whom 
they fought and defeated. One of the men ran away and a Muslim man followed him, in pursuit of his stuff. 
When he was about to strike him with his sword, the man said: 'I am a Muslim, I am a Muslim!' The Muslim 
man did not believe him. He killed him and took his possessions which were paltry. The Messenger of Allah, 
Allah bless him and give him peace, was informed of this. He said to the man: 'You killed him even though 
he claimed he was Muslim!' The man said: 'O Messenger of Allah, he said it only to protect himself'. The