Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(O ye who believe! Let not a folk deride a folk) this was revealed about Thabit Ibn Qays Ibn Shammas who mentioned a man of the Helpers with something bad; he mentioned the man's mother about whom he used to taunted in the pre-Islamic period, but Allah forbade him from saying ill things about fellow believers, saying: (O ye who believe) in Muhammad (pbuh) and the Qur'an; referring here specifically to Thabit! (Let not a folk deride a folk who may be better than they (are)) in the sight of Allah and also better in the share they have with Him, (nor let women (deride) women) this was revealed about two of the wives of the Prophet (pbuh) who derided Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet, and Allah forbade them from doing so (who may be better than they are) in the sight of Allah and also better in the share they have with Him; (neither defame one another) do not defame your believing brothers nor backbite against each other, (nor insult one another by nicknames) which were used in the pre-Islamic period. (Bad is the name of lewdness) it is bad to call your brother: “O Jew”, “O Christian”, “O Magian” (after faith) after having accepted faith and turned his back on all that. (And whoso turneth not in repentance) from calling his brothers with such names and nicknames after having accepted faith, (such are evil-doers) such are those who harm themselves with punishment. This was revealed about Abu Burdah Ibn Malik al-Ansari and 'Abdullah Ibn Hadrad al-Aslami who had a dispute and Allah forbade them from doing so.
Tafsir Ibn 'Abbas, trans. Mokrane Guezzou
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