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.