From the Book, Introduction to the Tafseer of the Quran, by the Ameer of Hizb ut Tahrir, the eminent jurist and statesman, Sheikh Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَكْتُمُونَ مَا أَنزَلْنَا مِنْ الْبَيِّنَاتِ وَالْهُدَى مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا بَيَّنَّاهُ لِلنَّاسِ فِي الْكِتَابِ أُوْلَئِكَ يَلْعَنُهُمْ اللَّهُ وَيَلْعَنُهُمْ اللاَّعِنُونَ * إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ تَابُوا وَأَصْلَحُوا وَبَيَّنُوا فَأُوْلَئِكَ أَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَنَا التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ * إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَمَاتُوا وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌ أُوْلَئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ لَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ وَالْمَلاَئِكَةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ * خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا لاَ يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمْ الْعَذَابُ وَلاَ هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ * وَإِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ
“Indeed, those who conceal what We sent down of clear proofs and guidance after We made it clear for the people in the Scripture – those are cursed by Allah and cursed by those who curse (159) Except for those who repent and correct themselves and make evident [what they concealed]. Those – I will accept their repentance, and I am the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful. (160) Indeed, those who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers – upon them will be the curse of Allah and of the angels and the people, all together (161) Abiding eternally therein. The punishment will not be lightened for them, nor will they be reprieved. (162) And your god is one God. There is no deity [worthy of worship] except Him, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. (163)”
(Surah Al-Baqarah 2: 159-163)
Allah (swt) clarifies in these Ayaat the following:
1- Allah (swt) clarified in what preceded that the People of the Book knew RasulAllah (saaw) as they know their own sons and they had his characterization by his description and that he would pray towards both the Qiblahs, yet they concealed what they knew. Allah (swt) said,
الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمْ الْكِتَابَ يَعْرِفُونَهُ كَمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ وَإِنَّ فَرِيقًا مِنْهُمْ لَيَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ
“Those to whom We gave the Book (Jews and Christians) recognize him (Muhammad) as they recognize their sons. But verily, a party of them conceal the truth while they know it i.e., the descriptions of Muhammad which are written in the Tawrah and the Injil”
(Surah al-Baqarah 2:146)
After that, Allah (swt) clarified in these subsequent verses that those who conceal the all that Allah (swt) has revealed from the clear, evident verses upon the matter of Muhammad (saaw) and the verses guiding to the obligation of following him (saaw). Since this is all recorded for the People of the Book in their books, these concealers are deserving of cursing from Allah (swt) and from those who bring the curses on the concealers are the angels and the believers from the two religions.
And this is stated in the context of the topic of the concealers from the People of the Book but the wording is general and therefore it is a general upon all who conceal knowledge from Allah (swt) they have and it is a sin of the highest order and concealing knowledge is forbidden severely with the Qareenah (Contextualizing)
أُوْلَئِكَ يَلْعَنُهُمْ اللَّهُ وَيَلْعَنُهُمْ
“Those are the ones who Allah (swt) curses and they curse” as is stated in the Hadeeth «من كتم علما ألجمه الله بلجام من النار» “Whosoever conceals knowledge Allah (swt will bridle him with a bridle of fire” for indicating the severe punishment for them and that is the Fire of Hell. (This hadith was narrated by Abu Yu’la and Taabaraani with the Sahih chain from ibn Abbas (ra)- RasulAllah (saaw) said, «من سئل عن علم فكتمه جاء يوم القيامة ملجما بلجام من نار» “Whosoever is asked about knowledge and he concealed it he will be brought on the Day of Resurrection bridled with a bridle of Fire” and the wording of the Hadeeth is in the text narrated by ibn Maajah 261 and Ahmed 2/499, 508)
Then Allah (swt) did not exclude from this except those who did three deeds: Repent to Allah a sincere repentance for concealment, correct what resulted from their concealment of the right to the people or misleading in the rulings of Sharee’ah and then they explained what they had concealed in its subjects by revealing it to the public and then Allah (swt) may grant repentance for them for He (swt) is for them the Most Merciful, Most Forgiving.
2- In the following verse, Allah (swt) clarifies the fate of the Kuffar who die upon Kufr, for they are in the eternal curse from Allah (swt), the angels and all the people.
The subject of cursing in this verse is not the same as in the preceding verse, for this is in this world and therefore Allah (swt), the angels and the believers cursed them الذين يُعْتَدُّ بلعنهم من الناس “who are made ready through the curse of the people.” As for this verse, the cursing for them in the Hereafter, where Allah (swt), the angels and all the people curse them, that is, not only the believers curse them, but all the people, even the Kuffar, curse each other.
دَخَلَتْ أُمَّةٌ لَعَنَتْ أُخْتَهَا
“Every time a nation enters, it will curse its sister nation.”
(Surah al-A’raaf 7:38)
Thus, Allah (swt) clarifies that those who die upon Kufr are eternally in Hell, cursed forever, never relieved of torment, nor is their postponement for their apologizing, rather no excuse will be taken for them and nor are they given respite.
3- After Allah (swt) mentions in the preceding verses the concealment of the People of the Book of the Prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ despite the fact it is described in the Books revealed to them and they know him as they know their own children. So the argument against them is established with the evidence of his (saaw) Prophethood of his, by Allah (swt) in the last Ayah that indeed He is the sole single deity deserving of worship and divinity.
وَإِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ
“And your god is one God. There is no deity [worthy of worship] except Him, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.” The particle “and” (و waw) is of conjunction and the sentence is joined by conjunction to إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَكْتُمُونَ “Indeed, those who conceal” and so it is joining the narrative with the narrative by conjunction and the expansion through conjunction is that the first narrative is to confirm his (saaw) Prophethood and this narrative is to confirm His (swt) singularity.
The meaning is that your true God is alone worthy of your worship and He is One in His divinity. So the repetition of “God” is notification of the description of Allah (swt) by two characterizations in this verse:
– Entitlement to being worshipped through the addition of “God” to the pronoun of addressing as إِلَهُكُمْ “your God”
– The unity in divinity from the mention of إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ “one God” لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ “no God but Him” which is a confirmation and a determination of the singularity of God – beyond association – and its mention, that is, لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ “there is no God but He” comes after وَإِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ “and your God is one God” to eradication the imagining that there is a God other than your God. And the noble verse notifies that your God is the one deserving of worship and is One in His divinity and He is the God who has no god in existence other than Him and He is your Lord and the Lord of the Worlds and He (swt) is الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ “Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful” who generalizes His Mercy in the world to include the believers and the Kuffar but He specifies His Mercy in the Hereafter to the believers alone.
الرَّحْمَنُ “Entirely Merciful” which is the superlative of merciful and He is Whom His Mercy has encompasses all things i.e. which is filled with Mercy, like the severest anger of the anger filled with anger.
الرَّحِيمُ “Especially Merciful,” is abundance of mercy, but in Most Merciful there is exaggeration/emphasis which is not in Especially Merciful because in Especially Merciful (الرحيم) there is a single addition from mercy (رحم) i.e. the Yey (ي) and in the Most Merciful there are two additions الرحمن the Alif (ا) and the Nuun (ن) and the addition in the construction of the word indicates the increase in meaning.