The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 216
CH. 4 AN-NISA' PT. 5 , وَاسْمَعْ غَيْرَ مُسْمَع وَرَاعِنَا لَيًّا say, “We hear and we disobey بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَطَعْنَا فِي الدِّينِ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ heard, and “Raina, screening قَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَاسْمَعْ وَانْظُرْنَا and 'hear thou without being , with their tongues what is in their minds and seeking to لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَّهُمْ وَأَقْوَم وَلكِنْ لَعَنَهُمُ injure the Faith. And if they had الله بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَلَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ إِلَّا قَلِيْلًا hear thou, and Unzurna, it said, 'We hear and we obey,' and would have been better for them and more upright. But Allah has cursed them for their disbelief; so they believe but little. 521 "2:105. From the verse it is clear that though performing proper ablution is ordinarily necessary for Prayers yet, Islam being a perfect religion, one is allowed to substitute tayammum in place of ablution in certain exceptional cases. 521. Commentary: The verb (they say) is used in Arabic both for words of mouth, and for what one expresses by one's condition or conduct (see 2:31). In this verse, the expression has been used of the Jews in both these senses, viz. "They say with their tongues that they have heard and obeyed, but their conduct shows that instead obeying they disobey and defy. " of The expression (without being heard) gives a number of meanings: (1) mayest thou not be made to hear, i. e. mayest thou not hear by reason of deafness; (2) mayest thou not hear any speech or 656 news which thou wouldst like or which may please thee; (3) may not what thou sayest be accepted, or may not thy invitation be accepted and thy call responded to; (4) mayest thou not be obeyed; or (5) the expression may mean, though it was not certainly intended by the Jews, mayest thou not hear anything offensive or unpleasant. For the expression (rā'inā) see note on 2:105. The Jews used the aforesaid ambiguous expressions in order (1) to conceal what evil thoughts they entertained about the Holy Prophet; (2) to make Muslims imitate them and use analogous expressions while addressing the Holy Prophet; and (3) to taunt Muslims with regard to matters affecting their religion, saying to them in effect, "We speak to your Prophet jestingly and abuse him in ambiguous words; if he had been a