Quran 10:94-95 tafsir:
10:94. If you [O Muhammad] are in doubt concerning that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who read the scriptures [revealed] before your time. The truth has indeed come to you from your Lord, so do not be among those who doubt.
10:95. Never be among those who reject the signs of Allah, for then you would be among the losers.
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Here Allah says to His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ : If you [O Muhammad] are in doubt concerning that which We have revealed to you), as to whether it is sound or not,
^then ask those who read the scriptures [revealed] before your time)*
that is, ask the fair-minded People of the Book and the well-versed scholars, for they will confirm to you the soundness of what you were told (of the Qur’an), and they will confirm that it is in harmony with what they have.
If it is asked: many - if not most - of the People of the Book, namely the Jews and Christians, stubbornly disbelieved in the Messenger of Allah and rejected his call, but Allah instructed His Messenger ﷺ to quote them and described their testimony as proof for the message he brought and evidence that it is true; how can that be?
This may be answered by noting the following points:
- If testimony is attributed to a particular group, school of thought, country, and the like, it is only referring to the testimony of those among them who are just and truthful. As for others, even if they are more numerous, they are to be overlooked, because testimony should be based on justice and honesty, and that was fulfilled when many of their rabbis and scholars believed, such as ‘Abdullah ibn Salam and his companions, and many of those who became Muslim at the time of the Prophet ﷺ, his successors (the caliphs) and after that.
- The testimony of the People of the Book in favour of the Messenger ﷺ was based on their Book, the Torah, which they claim to follow. If there is in the Torah that which is in harmony with the Qur’an, and confirms it and attests to its soundness, even if they all, from the first of them to the last,agree to deny that, it cannot undermine the message that the Messenger ﷺ brought.
- Allah instructed His Messenger ﷺ to seek the testimony of the People of the Book to the soundness of the message he brought, and he did that openly, announcing it before the people. It is well known that many of them were the keenest of people to prove false the call of the Messenger Muhammadﷺ. If they had possessed anything that could refute what Allah mentions, they would have proclaimed it openly and explained it clearly. As nothing of the sort happened, the fact that those who were hostile could not refute it and those who responded affirmed it offers the strongest evidence for the soundness and truthfulness of this Qur’an.
- Most of the People of the Book did not refute the call of the Messenger rather most of them responded and submitted willingly. The Messenger ﷺ was sent at a time when most of the people on earth followed the religion of the People of the Book, and it was not long before most of the people of greater Syria, Egypt, Iraq and neighbouring regions became followers of Islam, in a region that was the heartland of the religions of the People of the Book, and none were left except people in positions of leadership who preferred that status to the truth, and those who followed them of the ignorant masses, as well as those who were Christian in name only, such as the Europeans who in reality do not believe in the hereafter and have nothing to do with any divinely-revealed religion; rather they claim to follow the religion of Christ for political reasons and as a means of camouflaging their falsehood, as anyone who mixes with them will clearly realise.
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يقول تعالى لنبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم: { فَإِنْ كُنْتَ فِي شَكٍّ مِمَّا أَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ } هل هو صحيح أم غير صحيح؟.
{ فَاسْأَلِ الَّذِينَ يَقْرَءُونَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ } أي: اسأل أهل الكتب المنصفين، والعلماء الراسخين، فإنهم سيقرون لك بصدق ما أخبرت به، وموافقته لما معهم، فإن قيل: إن كثيرًا من أهل الكتاب، من اليهود والنصارى، بل ربما كان أكثرهم ومعظمهم كذبوا رسول الله وعاندوه، وردوا عليه دعوته.
والله تعالى أمر رسوله أن يستشهد بهم، وجعل شهادتهم حجة لما جاء به، وبرهانًا على صدقه، فكيف يكون ذلك؟
فالجواب عن هذا، من عدة أوجه:
منها: أن الشهادة إذا أضيفت إلى طائفة، أو أهل مذهب، أو بلد ونحوهم، فإنها إنما تتناول العدول الصادقين منهم.
وأما من عداهم، فلو كانوا أكثر من غيرهم فلا عبرة فيهم، لأن الشهادة مبنية على العدالة والصدق، وقد حصل ذلك بإيمان كثير من أحبارهم الربانيين، كـ "عبد الله بن سلام" [وأصحابه وكثير ممن أسلم في وقت النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، وخلفائه، ومن بعده] و "كعب الأحبار" وغيرهما.
ومنها: أن شهادة أهل الكتاب للرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم مبنية على كتابهم التوراة الذي ينتسبون إليه.
فإذا كان موجودًا في التوراة، ما يوافق القرآن ويصدقه، ويشهد له بالصحة، فلو اتفقوا من أولهم لآخرهم على إنكار ذلك، لم يقدح بما جاء به الرسول.
ومنها: أن الله تعالى أمر رسوله أن يستشهد بأهل الكتاب على صحة ما جاءه، وأظهر ذلك وأعلنه على رءوس الأشهاد.
ومن المعلوم أن كثيرًا منهم من أحرص الناس على إبطال دعوة الرسول محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، فلو كان عندهم ما يرد ما ذكره الله، لأبدوه وأظهروه وبينوه، فلما لم يكن شيء من ذلك، كان عدم رد المعادي، وإقرار المستجيب من أدل الأدلة على صحة هذا القرآن وصدقه.
ومنها: أنه ليس أكثر أهل الكتاب، رد دعوة الرسول، بل أكثرهم استجاب لها، وانقاد طوعًا واختيارًا، فإن الرسول بعث وأكثر أهل الأرض المتدينين أهل كتاب .
فلم يمكث دينه مدة غير كثيرة، حتى انقاد للإسلام أكثر أهل الشام، ومصر، والعراق، وما جاورها من البلدان التي هي مقر دين أهل الكتاب، ولم يبق إلا أهل الرياسات الذين آثروا رياساتهم على الحق، ومن تبعهم من العوام الجهلة، ومن تدين بدينهم اسمًا لا معنى، كالإفرنج الذين حقيقة أمرهم أنهم دهرية منحلون عن جميع أديان الرسل، وإنما انتسبوا للدين المسيحي، ترويجًا لملكهم، وتمويهًا لباطلهم، كما يعرف ذلك من عرف أحوالهم البينة الظاهرة.
وقوله: { لَقَدْ جَاءَكَ الْحَقُّ } أي: الذي لا شك فيه بوجه من الوجوه ولهذا قال: { مِنْ رَبِّكَ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ } كقوله تعالى: { كِتَابٌ أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ فَلَا يَكُنْ فِي صَدْرِكَ حَرَجٌ مِنْهُ }
