The second interpretation:
[6430] Abu Sa'id al-Ashajj narrated to us, Waki' narrated to us, from Sufyan; and al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Rabi' narrated to us, 'Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, al-Thawri narrated to us, from Habib ibn Abi Thabit, from Abu al-Buhturi, who said: Hudhayfah was asked about [the verse]: "And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, then those are the disbelievers"—he said: It was revealed concerning the Children of Israel. Hudhayfah then said: "What excellent brothers to you are the Children of Israel; if you have every sweet thing, they have every bitter thing. Nay, by Allah, you shall surely follow their path, stride by stride." (The wording is for 'Abd al-Razzaq).
[6431] Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Rabi' narrated to us, 'Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, al-Thawri narrated to us, from a man, from 'Ikrimah, who said: These verses were revealed regarding the People of the Book.
[6432] 'Ali ibn al-Hasan narrated to us, Musaddad narrated to us, Yahya narrated to us, from Ash'ath, from al-Hasan, who said: It was revealed regarding the People of the Book.
The third interpretation:
[6433] Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Rabi' narrated to us, 'Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, al-Thawri narrated to us, from Zakariyya, from al-Sha'bi, meaning regarding His saying: "And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, then those are the disbelievers"—he said: [It refers] to the Muslims.
[6434] Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Muqri' narrated to us, Sufyan narrated to us, from Hisham ibn Juhayr, from Tawus, from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding His saying: "And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, then those are the disbelievers"—he said: It is not the [state of] disbelief that they are attributing to it.
[6435] Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Rabi' narrated to us, 'Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, Ma'mar narrated to us, from Ibn Tawus, from his father, who said: Ibn 'Abbas was asked about His saying: "And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, then those are the disbelievers"—he said: It is a major sin. Ibn Tawus said: And it is not like the one who disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers.
It was narrated from 'Ata' that he said: "Disbelief less than [major] disbelief."
(1). Al-Tafsir, p. 101. (2). Al-Tafsir, 1/186. (3). The previous reference. (4). Added from Ibn Kathir, 3/110. (5). Al-Tafsir, 1/186. (6). Al-Hakim, Kitab al-Tafsir, 2/313, and he said: Authentic according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim), though they did not record it.
