His saying, Exalted is He: 'Lest they insult Allah in enmity.'
7762 - Ahmad ibn 'Uthman ibn Hakim al-Awdi informed us, in what he wrote to me, Ahmad ibn Mufaddal narrated to us, Asbat narrated to us, from al-Suddi: regarding His saying: 'And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge,' he said: When death approached Abu Talib, Quraysh said: 'Let us go and enter upon this man, and let us command him to forbid his nephew from [attacking] us; for we are embarrassed to kill him after his death, lest the Arabs say: He used to protect him.' When he died, they would kill him. So Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahl, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Umayyah and Ubayy (the sons of Khalaf), 'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt, 'Amr ibn al-'As, and al-Aswad ibn al-Bakhtari set out, and they sent a man from among them called al-Muttalib. They said: 'Ask for permission for us to enter upon Abu Talib.' He came to Abu Talib and said: 'These are the elders of your people; they wish to enter upon you.' He granted them permission, so they entered and said: 'O Abu Talib, you are our elder and our master, and Muhammad has harmed us and harmed our gods; we would like you to call him and forbid him from mentioning our gods, and we will leave him and his God [alone].' He called him, and the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, came. Abu Talib said to him: 'These are your people and your cousins.' The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: 'What do they want?' They said: 'We want you to leave us and our gods, and we will leave you and your God.' The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: 'Do you see, if I grant you this, will you grant me a word such that if you speak it, you would rule the Arabs, the non-Arabs would submit to you through it, and pay you tribute?' Abu Jahl said: 'By your father, we will certainly give it to you, and ten times like it! What is it?' He said: 'Say: There is no deity but Allah.' They refused and were averse to it. Abu Talib said: 'Say something else, for your people have become alarmed by this.' He said: 'O Uncle, I am not the one to say anything else, even if they were to bring the sun and place it in my hand. Even if they brought the sun and placed it in my hand, I would not say anything else.' He intended to make them despair. They became angry and said: 'You shall either stop insulting our gods or we shall certainly insult you and insult whoever commands you.' That is His saying: 'Lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge.'
His saying, Exalted is He: 'Without knowledge.'
7763 - Abu Zur'ah narrated to us, Safwan ibn Salih narrated to us, al-Walid narrated to us, Sa'id—meaning Ibn Bashir—narrated to us, from Qatadah: regarding His saying: 'And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah,' he said: The Muslims used to insult the idols of the polytheists, so they would retort against them. So Allah forbade them from provoking insults against their Lord from a people who were ignorant and had no knowledge of their Lord.
(1). Ibn Kathir, 308.
قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: فَيَسُبُّوا اللَّهَ عَدْوًا
٧٧٦٢ - أَخْبَرَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عُثْمَانَ بْنِ حَكِيمٍ الأَوْدِيُّ فِيمَا كَتَبَ إِلَيَّ ثنا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُفَضَّلٍ ثنا أَسْبَاطٌ عَنِ السُّدِّيِّ: قَوْلَهُ: وَلا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللَّهَ عدوا بغير عِلْمٍ، قَال: لَمَّا حَضَرَ أَبَا طَالِبٍ الْمَوْتُ قَالَتْ قُرَيْشٌ: انْطَلِقُوا فَلْنَدْخُلْ عَلَى هَذَا الرَّجُلِ، فَلْنَأْمُرْهُ أَنْ يَنْهَى عَنَّا ابْنَ أَخِيهِ، فَإِنَّا نَسْتَحِي أَنْ نَقْتُلَهُ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهِ فَتَقُولَ الْعَرَبُ: كَانَ يَمْنَعُهُ، فَلَمَّا مَاتَ قَتَلُوهُ. فَانْطَلَقَ أَبُو سُفْيَانَ، وَأَبُو جَهْلٍ، وَالنَّضْرُ بْنُ الْحَارِثِ، وَأُمَيَّةُ وَأُبَيٌّ ابْنَا خَلَفٍ، وَعُقْبَةُ بْنُ أَبِي مُعَيْطٍ، وَعَمْرُو بن العاص والأسود ابن الْبَخْتَرِيِّ، وَبَعَثُوا رَجُلا مِنْهُمْ يُقَالُ لَهُ الْمُطَّلِبُ، قَالُوا: اسْتَأْذِنْ لَنَا عَلَى أَبِي طَالِبٍ، فَأَتَى أَبَا طَالِبٍ فَقَالَ: هَؤُلاءِ مَشْيَخَةُ قَوْمِكَ يُرِيدُونَ الدُّخُولَ عَلَيْكَ. فَأَذِنَ لَهُمْ عَلَيْهِ، فَدَخَلُوا، فَقَالُوا: يَا أَبَا طَالِبٍ، أَنْتَ كَبِيرُنَا وَسَيِّدُنَا، وَإِنَّ مُحَمَّدًا قَدْ آذَانَا وَآذَى آلِهَتَنَا، فَنُحِبُّ أَنْ تَدْعُوَهُ فَتَنْهَاهُ عَنْ ذِكْرِ آلِهَتِنَا، وَلِنَدَعَهُ وَإِلَهَهُ. فَدَعَاهُ، فَجَاءَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، فَقَالَ لَهُ أَبُو طَالِبٍ: هَؤُلاءِ قَوْمُكَ وَبَنُو عَمِّكَ. قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَاذَا يُرِيدُونَ؟ قَالُوا: نُرِيدُ أَنْ تَدَعَنَا وَآلِهَتَنَا، وَلِنَدَعَكَ وَإِلَهَكَ. قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ أَعْطَيْتُكُمْ هَذَا، هَلْ أَنْتُمْ مُعْطِيَّ كَلِمَةً إِنْ تَكَلَّمْتُمْ بِهَا مَلَكْتُمُ العرب، وادنت لَكُمْ بِهَا الْعَجَمُ وَأَدَّتْ لَكُمُ الْخَرَاجَ؟ قَالَ أَبُو جَهْلٍ: وَأَبِيكَ لَنُعْطِيَنَّكَهَا وَعَشْرَ أَمْثَالِهَا، فَمَا هِيَ؟ قَالَ: قُولُوا: لَا إِلَهَ إِلا اللَّهُ. فَأَبَوْا وَاشْمَأَزُّوا. قَالَ أَبُو طَالِبٍ: قُلْ غَيْرَهَا فَإِنَّ قَوْمَكَ قَدْ فَزِعُوا مِنْهَا. قَالَ: يَا عَمِّ، مَا أَنَا بِالَّذِي يَقُولُ غَيْرَهَا حَتَّى يَأْتُوا بِالشَّمْسِ فَيَضَعُوهَا فِي يَدِي، وَلَوْ أَتَوْنِي بِالشَّمْسِ فَوَضَعُوهَا فِي يَدِي، مَا قُلْتُ غَيْرَهَا. إِرَادَةَ أَنْ يُوئِسَهُمْ، فَغَضِبُوا وَقَالُوا: لَتَكُفَّنَّ عَنْ شَتْمِ آلِهَتِنَا أَوْ لَنَشْتُمَنَّكَ وَنَشْتُمُ مَنْ يَأْمُرُكَ، فَذَلِكَ قَوْلُهُ: فَيَسُبُّوا اللَّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ «١» .
قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ
٧٧٦٣ - حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو زُرْعَةَ ثنا صَفْوَانُ بْنُ صَالِحٍ ثنا الْوَلِيدُ ثنا سَعِيدٌ- هُوَ ابْنُ بَشِيرٍ- عَنْ قَتَادَةَ: قَوْلَهُ: وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ من دون الله قَالَ: كَانَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ يَسُبُّونَ أَوْثَانَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ، فَيَرُدُّونَ ذَلِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ، فَنَهَاهُمُ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَسْتَسِبُّوا لِرَبِّهِمْ قوما جهلة لا علم لهم بربهم.
(١) . ابن كثير ٣٠٨.
