سورة المائدة

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Muslim said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): "What is the meaning of the verse: 'O Iblis! What prevented you from prostrating to that which I created with My two hands?' (Sad/75)?" He said: "'Hand' in the language of the Arabs means power and blessing. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: وَ اذْکُرْ عَبْدَنا داوُدَ ذَا الْأَیْدِ [And remember Our servant Dawud, possessor of might (many faculties)] (Sad/17). And He said: وَ السَّماءَ بَنَیْناها بِأَیْدٍ [And the heaven, We built it with power] (Dhariyat/47), that is, with strength. And indeed, We are the expanders [of it] (Dhariyat/47). And He said: وَ أَیَّدَهُمْ بِرُوحٍ مِنْهُ [And He strengthened them with a spirit from Him] (Mujadala/22), that is, He gave them strength and power. And in usage it is said: 'So-and-so has with me a yad bayda (white hand),' meaning he has a blessing [owed to him]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Hanan ibn Sadir said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the "Arsh (Throne)" and the "Kursi (Footstool)." He said: "The Arsh has many different attributes... Among the different characteristics of the Arsh is that Allah said: رَبِّ العَرْشِ عَمَّا یَصِفُونَ [Lord of the Throne, above what they describe], meaning the Lord of Oneness. A group considered Allah to have two hands and said: یَدُ اللهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ [The hand of Allah is tied up]. Another group ascribed two feet to Allah and said: Allah placed His foot on the rock of Bayt al-Muqaddas and from there ascended to the heaven. And they believed that Allah has fingers and claimed that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: I felt the coldness of Allah's fingers upon my heart. In refutation of such claims, Allah said: رَبِّ العَرْشِ عَمَّا یَصِفُونَ [Lord of the Throne, above what they describe]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah the Mighty and Majestic created us and made our creation excellent, and He shaped us and made our forms excellent, and He made us His eye among His servants and His speaking tongue among His creation and His hand extended over His servants with compassion and mercy. (Wilayah

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said: I am the hand of Allah extended over His servants with mercy and forgiveness. (The saying of the Jews

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ya'qub ibn Shu'ayb said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the verse: وَ قالَتِ الْیَهُودُ یَدُ اللهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ غُلَّتْ أَیْدیهِمْ [And the Jews say: The hand of Allah is tied up. Their hands shall be shackled]. The Imam said: "It is like this," and with his hand he took hold of his neck. "But what they mean is that He has finished with the affair of the world."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): یَدُ اللهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ [The hand of Allah is tied up]; meaning He has finished with what has been done, لُعِنُوا بِما قالُوا [they were cursed for what they said], on account of what they said, they were cursed. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: بَلْ یَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ [Nay, both His hands are spread out].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ishaq ibn Ammar narrates from someone who heard this narration from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The Imam (peace be upon him) said regarding the verse: وَ قَالَتِ الْیَهُودُ یَدُ اللهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ [And the Jews said: The hand of Allah is tied up]: "They did not mean that the hand of Allah is truly tied, but rather they said: He has finished with the affair of the world and neither adds to it nor decreases from it, and does not manage affairs. Therefore Allah the Exalted, refuting this statement of theirs, said: غُلَّتْ أَیْدِیهِمْ وَ لُعِنُوا بِمَا قَالُوا بَلْ یَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ یُنْفِقُ کَیْفَ یَشَاءُ [Their hands shall be shackled and they shall be cursed for what they say. Nay, both His hands are spread out, He expends as He pleases]. Or have you not heard that Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: Allah erases what He wills and confirms, and with Him is the Ummul Kitab (the Mother of the Book). (Ra'd/39)."

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Hasan ibn Muhammad Nawfali said: ... Ma'mun sent for Imam Rida (peace be upon him) and said: "O Abu al-Hasan (peace be upon him)! What is your view on what these people are debating and disputing about (bada' — appearance of a new decree)?" The Imam said: "O Sulayman! How is it that you do not accept bada'? While Allah says: Does man not remember that We created him before this, and he was nothing? (Maryam/67)." Sulayman said: "Has any narration on this matter reached you from your fathers?" He said: "Yes, this narration has been transmitted to me from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), who said: 'Allah has two kinds of knowledge: a knowledge stored and hidden, which none knows except Him, and from that knowledge bada' arises; and a knowledge which He has taught to His angels and prophets (peace be upon them), and the scholars of the Ahl al-Bayt of our Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) are also aware of it.'" ... Then the Imam turned to Sulayman and said: "I think that on this matter you think like the Jews!?" Sulayman said: "I seek refuge in Allah from such a thing. What do the Jews say?" The Imam said: "The Jews say: یَدُ اللهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ [The hand of Allah is tied up]. They mean that Allah has finished His work and withdrawn His hand, and creates nothing further. Allah in response says: غُلَّتْ أَیْدِیهِمْ وَ لُعِنُوا بِمَا قَالُوا [Their hands shall be shackled and they shall be cursed for what they say]."

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Bakr ibn Salih said: I heard Imam Rida (peace be upon him) saying: "What do people say about this verse?" I said: "May I be your ransom, which verse?" He said: This verse: وَ قَالَتِ الْیَهُودُ یَدُ اللهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ غُلَّتْ أَیْدِیهِمْ وَ لُعِنُوا بِمَا قَالُوا بَلْ یَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ یُنْفِقُ کَیْفَ یَشَاءُ [And the Jews said: The hand of Allah is tied up. Their hands shall be shackled and they shall be cursed for what they say. Nay, both His hands are spread out, He expends as He pleases]. I said: "They differ in its interpretation." He said: "I say this verse was revealed concerning the Waqifis. They say that after Musa ibn Ja'far (peace be upon him) there is no Imam; Allah refutes them and says: The hands of Allah are spread out. The 'hand' in the inner meaning of the Qur'an is the Imam, and it refers to this belief of theirs where they say: 'After Musa ibn Ja'far (peace be upon him) there is no Imam.'"

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ قالَتِ الْیَهُودُ یَدُ الله مَغْلُولَةٌ غُلَّتْ أَیْدِیهِمْ وَ لُعِنُوا بِما قالُوا بَلْ یَداهُ مَبْسُوطَتانِ [And the Jews say: The hand of Allah is tied up! Their hands shall be shackled and they shall be cursed for what they say. Nay, both His hands are spread out]; they said: Allah has finished with the matter and does not bring into being anything other than what He ordained in the first decree; so Allah answered them and said: بَلْ یَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ یُنفِقُ کَیْفَ یَشَاء [Nay, both His hands are spread out, He expends as He pleases], meaning He advances and delays, increases and decreases; bada (change of decree) occurs with regard to Him, and the will belongs to Him.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): قالَتِ الْیَهُودُ یَدُ الله مَغْلُولَةٌ [The Jews said: The hand of Allah is tied up]; that is, Allah's hands are tied and He refuses to give sustenance — they have attributed stinginess to Allah.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah has not become angry for anything as He has for the talh and sidr trees. The talh was the size of a citron and the sidr like a melon; when the Jews said: یَدُ الله مَغْلُولَةٌ [The hand of Allah is tied up], their fruit shrank and became seeded, with hard seeds. When the Christians said: الْمَسِیحُ ابْنُ الله [The Messiah is the son of Allah], these two trees became sparse in leaves and thorny, and their fruit became small; the sidr became this small and the fruit of the talh was lost, and it will not bear fruit until our Qa'im arises. And he said: "Whoever waters a talh or sidr tree, it is as if he has quenched a believer's thirst."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Humran narrates: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said regarding the verse: یا أَهْلَ الْکِتابِ لَسْتُمْ عَلی شَیْءٍ حَتَّی تُقِیمُوا التَّوْراةَ وَ الْإِنْجِیلَ وَ ما أُنْزِلَ إِلَیْکُمْ مِنْ رَبِّکُمْ وَ لَیَزِیدَنَّ کَثِیراً مِنْهُمْ ما أُنْزِلَ إِلَیْکَ مِنْ رَبِّکَ طُغْیاناً وَ کُفْراً [O People of the Book! You are on nothing until you establish the Torah and the Gospel and what has been revealed to you from your Lord; and what has been revealed to you from your Lord will certainly make many of them increase in inordinacy and unbelief]: "It is the wilayah of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him)."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Jabir narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) that regarding the verse: کُلَّمَا أَوْقَدُواْ نَارًا لِّلْحَرْبِ أَطْفَأَهَا الله [Whenever they kindle a fire for war Allah puts it out] he said: "Whenever a tyrant among the tyrants wished to destroy the Family of Muhammad (peace be upon them), Allah crushed him."

Lady Zahra (peace be upon her): O people... Allah, Blessed and Exalted, delivered you through the blessing of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) after all that humiliation, disgrace and weakness. He confronted the brave men and grappled with the wolves of the Arabs and the rebels among the Jews and Christians, but whenever they kindled the fire of war, Allah extinguished it. کُلَّما أَوْقَدُوا ناراً لِلْحَرْبِ أَطْفَأَهَا الله [Whenever they kindle a fire for war, Allah puts it out]. And whenever the horn of Satan appeared and the seditions of the polytheists opened their mouths, my father cast his brother Ali (peace be upon him) into their jaws and, through him, crushed them. He never returned from those perilous missions until he had trampled the heads of the enemies underfoot and rubbed their noses in the dust.