The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 79
PT. 3 ĀL-E-‘IMRĀN CH. 3 different interpretations. We will give God, for in that case they would be here those most apparent: comes tacitly admitting that the door of God's favours is open to others as well, and thus they would make themselves liable to punishment for rejecting Islam. The words, All bounty is in the hand of Allah, mean that the bestowing of the gift of prophethood upon a people is in the hand of God alone and He confers it on those who are deserving of it. (2) According another interpretation, only the words b (1) The clause, And obey none but him who follows your religion, is a continuation of the concluding clause of the preceding verse. Thereafter a parenthetical clause beginning with the words, Say, surely the true guidance, and ending with the words, the like of that which has been given to you. Then comes again the speech of the Jews in the words, Or they would dispute with you before your Lord, the verses which in this case would be finally ending with the Divine commandment, Say, All bounty, etc. The style is peculiar to the Quran and is intended to produce a good psychological effect. The words, that one be given the like of that which has been given to you, which Muslims are bidden to say are in fitting contrast to the words of the Jews quoted in the beginning of the verse, i. e. obey none but him who follows your religion. Jews make God a national deity, debarring all others from His favours, whereas Muslims believe in Him as the Lord of all, basing His right to greatness on the bestowal of His favours in whatever form and to whatever people they may come. Moreover, they believe that the fold of Islam, which is Allah's universal guidance, is open to all peoples. The words of the Jews, Or they would dispute with you before your Lord, mean that if the Jews follow any dispensation other than their own, they would thereby prove their own guilt in the sight of 519 to translated as "Say, the true guidance is the guidance of Allah," would be considered as being parenthetical and the following words, i. e. that one be given the like of that which has been given to you, etc. would be taken to form part of the speech of the Jews. In this case the clause would signify that the Jews say to one another that the guidance that has come to the House of Israel, or the favours that have been bestowed on them, can never be vouchsafed to any other people. They are the exclusive privilege of Israel. (3) Yet another interpretation is obtained, if the speech of the Jews is taken to end with the words, obey none but him who follows your religion, the succeeding clauses being considered to be all Divine speech put in the mouth of believers. In this case the words would be considered to be understood before the clause and the entire expression would mean, "so they should accept it, or they should