لَوْلَا يَنْهَىٰهُمُ ٱلرَّبَّـٰنِيُّونَ وَٱلْأَحْبَارُ عَن قَوْلِهِمُ ٱلْإِثْمَ وَأَكْلِهِمُ ٱلسُّحْتَ ۚ لَبِئْسَ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَصْنَعُونَ 63
Translations
Why do the rabbis and religious scholars not forbid them from saying what is sinful and devouring what is unlawful? How wretched is what they have been practicing.
Transliteration
Lawlā yanhāhum ar-rabbāniyyūn wa-al-ahbār 'an qawlihim al-ithmā wa-aklihim as-suhit, labis'a mā kānū yasna'ūn
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah rebukes the Jewish scholars (rabbis and learned men) for failing to prohibit their people from uttering sinful statements (particularly false claims about Allah and His attributes) and from consuming forbidden wealth (suht). According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, the suht refers to ill-gotten gains obtained through fraud, bribery, and deception. The verse condemns both the sinful behavior of the masses and the negligence of the religious scholars who should have been moral guides but remained silent.
Revelation Context
Revealed in the Medinan period, this ayah addresses the Jewish communities of Medina during the Prophet's time. It comes within the context of Surah Al-Ma'idah's discussion of the People of the Book and their departures from divine guidance, specifically criticizing their scholars' failure to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'The best of you are those of you who are best to their families, and I am the best among you to my family' (Tirmidhi 3895). Related to leadership responsibility is: 'Whoever sees an evil must change it with his hand, and if he cannot, then with his tongue, and if he cannot, then with his heart—and that is the weakest of faith' (Sahih Muslim 49).
Themes
Key Lesson
Religious scholars bear a special responsibility not merely to possess knowledge, but to actively guide their communities away from sin and corruption; silence in the face of wrongdoing is itself a form of complicity that invites divine displeasure.
Related Ayahs
وَلَوْ كَانُوا۟ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلنَّبِىِّ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مَا ٱتَّخَذُوهُمْ أَوْلِيَآءَ وَلَـٰكِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُمْ فَـٰسِقُونَ
And if they had believed in Allāh and the Prophet and in what was revealed to him, they would not have taken them as allies; but many of them are defiantly disobedient.
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِۦ يَـٰقَوْمِ ٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَةَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ جَعَلَ فِيكُمْ أَنۢبِيَآءَ وَجَعَلَكُم مُّلُوكًا وَءَاتَىٰكُم مَّا لَمْ يُؤْتِ أَحَدًا مِّنَ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
And [mention, O Muḥammad], when Moses said to his people, "O my people, remember the favor of Allāh upon you when He appointed among you prophets and made you possessors and gave you that which He had not given anyone among the worlds.
قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى لَآ أَمْلِكُ إِلَّا نَفْسِى وَأَخِى ۖ فَٱفْرُقْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْفَـٰسِقِينَ
[Moses] said, "My Lord, indeed I do not possess [i.e., control] except myself and my brother, so part us from the defiantly disobedient people."
لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِٱللَّغْوِ فِىٓ أَيْمَـٰنِكُمْ وَلَـٰكِن يُؤَاخِذُكُم بِمَا عَقَّدتُّمُ ٱلْأَيْمَـٰنَ ۖ فَكَفَّـٰرَتُهُۥٓ إِطْعَامُ عَشَرَةِ مَسَـٰكِينَ مِنْ أَوْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أَهْلِيكُمْ أَوْ كِسْوَتُهُمْ أَوْ تَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ ۖ فَمَن لَّمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ ثَلَـٰثَةِ أَيَّامٍ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ كَفَّـٰرَةُ أَيْمَـٰنِكُمْ إِذَا حَلَفْتُمْ ۚ وَٱحْفَظُوٓا۟ أَيْمَـٰنَكُمْ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
Allāh will not impose blame upon you for what is meaningless in your oaths, but He will impose blame upon you for [breaking] what you intended of oaths. So its expiation is the feeding of ten needy people from the average of that which you feed your [own] families or clothing them or the freeing of a slave. But whoever cannot find [or afford it] - then a fast of three days [is required]. That is the expiation for oaths when you have sworn. But guard your oaths. Thus does Allāh make clear to you His verses [i.e., revealed law] that you may be grateful.