(Lo! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah’s covenant and their oaths…) [3:77].
Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Qadi informed us> Hajib ibn Ahmad> Muhammad ibn Hammad> Abu Mu‘awiyah> al-A‘mash> Shaqiq> ‘Abd Allah who reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “Whoever makes an oath knowing well that he is lying in order to usurp the property of another Muslim, Allah will be angry with him when he meets Him”. Then al-Ash‘ath ibn Qays said: “By Allah, this was revealed about me. There was a land between me and a Jew, but he denied that I was its owner. And so I took him to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, who asked me: ‘Do you have a proof?’ I said: ‘no!’ He then asked the Jew: ‘Will you swear [that the land is yours]?’ I said: O Messenger of Allah! If he swears that the land is his, I will lose my property. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (Lo! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah’s covenant and their oaths…)”. This was narrated by Bukhari from ‘Abdan from Abu Hamzah from al-A‘mash.
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Mihrajani informed us> ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Zahid> Abu’l-Qasim al-Baghawi> Muhammad ibn Sulayman> Salih ibn ‘Umar> al-A‘mash> Shaqiq> ‘Abd Allah who reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “Whoever lies in his oath in order to usurp a property, Allah will be angry with him when he will meet Him”. “Then Allah, exalted is He, revealed: (Lo! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah’s covenant and their oaths…) up to the end of the verse. Al-Ash‘ath ibn Qays came and asked: ‘What is it that Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman is relating to you?’ We said: ‘Such-and-such’. He said: ‘This verse was revealed about me. I reported to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, a dispute that I had with another man and so he asked me: ‘do you have a proof’. I said: ‘No!’ He said: ‘Then the man should swear’. I said: ‘So let him swear’. The Messenger, peace be upon him, said: ‘Whoever lies in his oath in order to usurp a property, Allah will be angry with him when he will meet Him’. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Lo! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah’s covenant and their oaths)’ ”. This was narrated by Bukhari from Hajjaj ibn Minhal from Abu ‘Awanah; and it was also narrated by Muslim from Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah from Waki‘ and also from Ibn Numayr from Abu Mu‘awiyah; and all these narrators reported from al-A‘mash.
Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Shadhyakhi informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Zakariyya> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Faqih> Muhammad ibn Yahya> ‘Abd al-Razzaq> Sufyan> Mansur and al-A‘mash> Abu Wa’il> ‘Abd Allah who reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “No man makes a false oath to seize a property which does not belong to him except that Allah will be angry with him when he meets Him. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (Lo! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah’s covenant and their oaths…)”.
He said: “Then al-Ash‘ath came while ‘Abd Allah was in the process of relating to them the narration, and said: ‘This was revealed about me and another man with whom I had a dispute regarding a well. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, asked me: ‘Do you have proof [that this well is yours]?’ I replied that I did not. He said: ‘Then let the man swear for you’. I said: ‘Let him swear’. And then the verse (Lo! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah’s covenant and their oaths) was revealed’ ”.
‘Amr ibn Abu ‘Amr al-Muzakki informed us> Muhammad ibn al-Makki> Muhammad ibn Yusuf> Muhammad ibn Isma‘il Bukhari> ‘Ali ibn ‘Abd Allah> Hushaym> al-‘Awwam ibn Hawshab> Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman> ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Awfa who reported that a man was selling a merchandise in the market place and swore that he was selling it for a price lower than the price with which he bought it, just to make one Muslim man buy it from him. As a result of which, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Lo! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah’s covenant and their oaths…).
Said al-Kalbi: “Due to scarcity of foodstuff, some poor Jewish scholars went to seek help from Ka‘b ibn al-Ashraf in Medina. Ka‘b asked them: Is there anything in your Scripture which indicates that this man is Allah’s Messenger?’ They said: ‘Yes! Do you not find the same?’ He said: ‘No, I don’t!’ They said: ‘Well, we bear witness that he is Allah’s servant and Messenger’. Ka‘b said: ‘Allah has deprived you of much good, you came to me and I really wanted to be good to you and to clothe your dependents. But Allah has deprived you and deprived your dependents’. They said: ‘We only thought that he is the man. Give us some respite until we meet him’. They went and wrote down a description which was different than that of the Prophet [Allah bless him and give him peace, as was in their Scripture]. After which they met the Prophet of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, spoke with him and asked him some questions. They went back to Ka‘b and said: ‘We had thought that he was Allah’s Messenger but when we met him we realised that he does not fit the description that we had and found that his description is different’. They got out the new description which they wrote down and showed it to Ka‘b. Ka‘b was very happy with them. He fed them and spent on them. Because of this Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”.
Said ‘Ikrimah: “This verse was revealed about Rafi‘ and Kinanah ibn Abu’l-Huqayq as well as Huyayy ibn Akhtab, and other Jewish chiefs. They had concealed Allah’s covenant with them in the Torah regarding Muhammad, Allah bless him and give him peace, which they had changed with their own hands and wrote instead something different in order not to miss the gains and earning they procured from their followers”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou