Verse. 51

'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī

تفسير : then he mentioned the story of the jewish leaders, saying: (enjoin ye righteousness upon mankind), do you enjoin the oneness of allah and the following of muhammad (pbuh) upon people of humble background (while ye yourself forget), while you yourself refrain from following him? (and you are readers of the scripture!) to them. (have ye then no sense?) do you not possess the common sense possessed by human beings?

Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī

تفسير : will you bid others to piety, to belief in muhammad (s), and forget yourselves, neglecting yourselves and not bidding them to the same, while you recite the book?, in which there is the threat of chastisement, if what you do contradicts what you say. do you not understand? the evil nature of your actions, that you might then repent? (the sentence about ‘forgetting’ constitutes the [syntactical] locus of the interrogative of disavowal).

Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi

تفسير : (enjoin ye righteousness upon mankind while ye yourselves forget (to practise it)?) [2:44]. said ibn ‘abbas, according to the narration of al-kalbi>abu salih through the aforementioned chain of transmission: “this was revealed about the jews of medina. one of them would say to his brother-in-law, relatives or muslims with whom they had milk relations: ‘hold firm to your religion and that with which this man — meaning muhammad, allah bless him and give him peace — commands you, for what he has brought is the truth’. they used to enjoin people to follow islam while abstaining themselves from doing so”.