Allah has blessed such a person immensely, but he was ungrateful for it and he rejected that great good fortune of which others are deprived. We ask Allah for beneficial knowledge and accepted deeds;
may He bless us with pardon and protection from all calamities.

^And whoever does not judge according to what Allah has
revealed^ of clear truth, and he knowingly rules according to falsehood for some invalid purpose,

^such are disbelievers^. Judging or ruling according to something other than that which Allah has revealed is the action of the disbelievers, and it may put one beyond the pale of Islam, if he believes that doing so is permissible, or it may be a major sin and an act of disbelief, for which the one who does it deserves a severe punishment.

content to be idle and not do anything, and he does not care about what he has been entrusted with. He neglects it for he has sold his religious commitment for worldly gain and taken bribes for his verdicts; thus he took money for his fatwas and did not teach the slaves of Allah anything unless it was in return for a fee.

^Verily, We gave to Moosa and Haroon the criterion [between right and wrong - the Torah], and a light, and admonition for the pious.^ (al-Anbiya’21:48)

^By it the Prophets who submitted [to Allah]^ and complied with His commands, whose submission to Him was greater than that of others, and they were the elite chosen by Allah from among His slaves

^judged the Jews^ concerning cases of dispute and questions about religious rulings. If this is the case with regard to these noble Prophets and leaders of humankind, that they followed the teachings and guidance of the Torah, then what is preventing these ignoble people among the Jews from following it? What made them cast aside the
noblest idea in it, namely believing in Muhammad , without belief in whom no deed, visible or hidden, is accepted? Did they have a leader in that (path of misguidance)? Yes, they had leaders whose main focus was to distort the text of the Torah and establish themselves as leaders among people, and to earn a living by concealing the truth and making falsehood manifest. These are the leaders of misguidance
who called people to the fire.

^as did the rabbis and scholars^
that is, the religious leaders of the Jews ruled on the basis of the Torah. The word translated here as (rabbis) refers to knowledgeable people who act upon their knowledge and teach others in the best way, and they follow the path of the compassionate Prophets in their dealings with the people.
The word translated here as ^scholars^ refers to the senior scholars whose teachings people emulate and follow, and among their people they are known for devotion and sincerity.
This ruling on their part, which is in accordance with the truth, is because ^to them was entrusted the protection of the scripture of Allah, and they were witnesses thereto^ that is, because Allah entrusted the protection of His Book to them, and made them trustees
in whose keeping it was placed, and He enjoined them to protect it from additions, subtractions and concealment, and to teach it to those
who do not know it.
Therefore they are witnesses over it, as they became the reference point regarding it and matters that were not clear in people’s minds.
Allah gives responsibility to the people of knowledge that He does not give to those who are ignorant. Therefore they were required to shoulder that burden of responsibility and not to follow the example of the ignorant by resorting to idleness and laziness. Therefore they
should not limit themselves to individual acts of worship, such as
various kinds of dhikr, prayer, zakah, Hajj, fasting and other matters by which, if those who have no knowledge do them, they will be fine and will be saved.
But in the case of those who have knowledge, just as they are required to fulfil their individual duties, they are also required to teach the people and point out to them that which they need to know of religious matters, especially the fundamental matters and issues
that often arise. They should not fear people; rather they should fear their Lord. Hence He says: ^So do not fear people, but fear Me, and do not sell My revelations for a small price^, for then you would be concealing the truth and making falsehood manifest for the sake of insignificant worldly gain. If the scholar is free of these faults, then
that is by the help and guidance of Allah and His blessing, because He has caused his focus to be on acquiring knowledge and teaching people, and he knows that Allah has entrusted to his keeping what he has of knowledge and is a witness thereto. So he should fear his Lord, and not let fear of people prevent him from doing what is required of him or give precedence to worldly matters over religious matters.
By the same token, the sign of a scholar being doomed is that he is

^Those are the ones for whom it is not Allah’s will to purify their hearts^
that is, therefore they did what they did. This indicates that in the case of one whose intention in referring for judgement to Sharia is to follow his whims and desires, and if the verdict is in his favour he will accept it, but if it is not then he will resent it, that is because his heart is not purified. By the same token, if a person refers his opponent to Sharia, and he accepts the verdict whether it suits him or not, then
this is a sign of purity of the heart. This indicates that purity of heart is a means of attaining all that is good, and it is the main reason for all good words and righteous deeds.

^For them there is disgrace in this world^
that is, shame and scandal

^and in the hereafter theirs will be a grievous punishment^
namely hell and divine wrath.

^They eagerly listen to lies^ - listening here means accepting and taking to heart, which is due to their lack of religious commitment and reason; hence they respond to the one who calls them to falsehood.

^and devour what is unlawful^
that is, haram wealth, because of
what they take unlawfully from their common folk of set fees and charges. Thus they combine following falsehood and consuming that which is prohibited.

^If they do come to you [O Muhammad], either judge between them or turn away from them^ - it is your choice. This was not abrogated; rather if this type of people referred to him for judgement, he had the choice between judging between them or refraining from doing so, because they had no intention of adhering to the rule of Sharia, unless it was in accordance with their whims and desires.
Based on that, if it is known that the one who is asking a scholar for an Islamic verdict or for a judgement between him and his opponent will not accept it if the verdict is against him, then the scholar is not obliged to give a ruling or verdict, but if he does judge between them, then he is obliged to judge fairly. Hence Allah says: ^If you turn away from them, not the least harm will they do to you, and if you judge, then judge with justice between them, for Allah loves those who are
just^. Even if they are wrongdoers or enemies, that should not prevent you from being fair when judging between them.
This highlights the virtue of justice and fairness when judging between people, which Allah loves. Then Allah says, expressing astonishment at their attitude: ^But how is it that they ask you for judgement when they have the Torah which contains Allah’s judgement, and they still turn away Such people are not [truly] believers^ - the reason being that if they were truly believers acting upon what faith requires, they would not have turned away from the judgement of Allah which is mentioned in the Torah that they have before them, in hope of finding a ruling that was in accordance with their whims and desires.
When you (O Prophet ) judged between them according to the ruling of Allah, which is also in accordance with what they have in their scriptures, they did not like it; rather they turned away from it and did not accept it.
^Such people^
that is, the ones who did this

^are not [truly] believers^
that is, this is not the way of the believers, and they do not deserve to be called believers, because they take as
their gods their own desires (25:43), and they regard the rulings of faith as being subject to their whims and desires.

^Verily We revealed the Torah^ to Moosa ibn ‘Imran

^in which was guidance^ as it guided people to faith and truth, and protected against misguidance

^and light^ to illuminate the darkness of ignorance, confusion, doubt, specious arguments, and whims and desires, as Allah says elsewhere:

Because the Messenger ( sallallaahu aleihi wa sallam ) was so concerned for people, he would feel very sad when someone made an outward display of faith, then returned to disbelief. Therefore Allah instructed him not to
feel sad or grieved for such people, because such people were not worth it; if they are present they contribute nothing and if they are absent, no one misses them.
Therefore Allah said, explaining the reason why he should not grieve for them: ^those who say with their mouths: We believe, but have no faith in their hearts^. Rather those for whom one should feel concerned are those who were counted as believers and were indeed believers both outwardly and inwardly. It is very unlikely that
these people would recant their religion and apostatise, for when faith becomes entrenched in the heart, the individual would not regard anything else as equal to it, nor would he want to replace it with anything else.

^or those among the Jews who eagerly listen to lies and to those who have not even come to you^
that is, they follow in the footsteps of their leaders whose affair is based on lies, misguidance and wrongdoing. Those leaders ^have not even come to you^; rather they turned away from you and rejoiced in what they had of falsehood, which is based on distorting the meaning of (revealed) words, that is, explaining the meanings in a way that Allah did not intend in order to misguide people and ward off the truth. These are the ones who are following the callers of misguidance, who fabricate all kinds of lies, and are lacking in reason and aspirations. So do not worry about them if they do not follow you, because they are seriously flawed, and no attention should be paid to one who is flawed.

^and say: If you are given this [ruling], accept it, but if you are not, then beware!^
That is, this is what they say when they refer to you for judgement, and their only aim is to follow their whims and
desires. They say to one another: If Muhammad (sallallaahu aleihi wa sallam) rules in your favour and it is in accordance with your whims and desires, then accept his ruling, but if he does not rule in your favour, then beware of following him in that. This is giving into temptation and following the whims and desires of the nafs.

^Whoever Allah wills should be misguided, you cannot help him against Allah in any way^.
This is akin to the verse in which Allah
says:
^Verily, you [O Muhammad] cannot guide whomever you like, but Allah guides whomever He wills...^
(al-Qasas 28:56)

The thief is the one who takes another person’s property that is protected by Sharia, in a surreptitious manner, without the owner’s consent. It is one of the major sins that dictate a severe punishment, which is amputation of the right hand, as is specified in the recitation of some of the Sahabah.
The hadd punishment entails cutting off their hands from the wrist.
If a person steals, his hand is to be cut off from the wrist, then the bleeding is to be stopped by cauterising it with hot oil. This is the punishment mentioned in general terms in the Qur’an, but the Sunnah restricts the general meaning of this verse in a number of ways:
• That the stolen item should have been taken from the place where such items are usually kept safe; if it is stolen from some place other than that, then the thief’s hand is not to be cut off.
• That there should be a minimum value for the stolen property, which is one quarter of a dinar or three dirhams, or whatever is equivalent to either of them. If the stolen property is of less
value than that, then the thief’s hand is not to be cut off.
This may be understood from the word as-sariqah (theft) and its meanings. This word refers to taking an item in such a way that it is not possible to protect against. This applies if it is stored properly; if it is not stored properly and is taken, this is not theft per se according to Sharia.
Wisdom also dictates that the hand should not be cut off for theft of a trivial item. As there must be a set definition of what is valuable, the shar‘i texts make clear the minimum value.
The wisdom behind cutting off the hand as a punishment for theft is so that this will protect people’s property, as people will be cautious lest the limb that committed the crime be cut off. If the thief steals again, his left foot is to be cut off. If he does it again, it was suggested that his left hand be cut off, then his right foot, or that he be detained until he dies.

^as a recompense for what they have done^
that is, this cutting off of their hands is the recompense to the thief for what he stole of people’s property

^and as an exemplary punishment ordained by Allah^
that is, to make an example of him and to deter the thief and others, if they know that their hands will be cut off if they steal.

^Allah is Almighty, Most Wise^ because He is Almighty, Most Wise, He ordained that the hand of the thief is to be cut off.

^But whoever repents after having thus done wrong and mends his ways, Allah will accept his repentance, for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful^, so He will forgive the one who repents and gives up sin, and mends his ways and reforms himself. That is because Allah is the Sovereign of the heavens and the earth, and He decrees concerning them however He wills; He decrees what will happen and He ordains laws, and He decrees forgiveness or punishment according to His wisdom and vast mercy.