وَإِذَا دُعُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ إِذَا فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ

When they are summoned to Allah and His Apostle that he may judge between them, behold, a part of them turn aside.

EXPOSITION

Continuing with the issue of selective faith that was raised in the previous verse, God now gives a practical example of how such selective faith (which is, as we were told, not faith at all) manifests itself. When certain Muslims were called upon to settle their disputes with the Prophet acting as judge or arbiter, some hypocrites and those with a disease in their hearts would either outright refuse, or come up with excuses to avoid that, because they knew they were in the wrong, and preferred to turn to other means to achieve their desired goals, Have you not regarded those who claim that they believe in what has been sent down to you, and what was sent down before you? [Yet] they desire to seek the judgement of the Rebel (4:60).[1]

When they are summoned to Allah and His Apostle that he may judge between them: the Prophet would judge of course based on the understanding instilled in him by God, Indeed We have sent down to you the book with the truth, so that you may judge between the people by what Allah has shown you (4:105). So whilst the Prophet is the one who is passing the judgement, it is by extension the judgement of God.[2] This is also clear from the usage of the singular he may judge, which nevertheless relates to both Allah and His Apostle.[3]

Of course, the scope of the verse includes far more than just those who lived in the time of the Prophet and the actual cases in which he acted as a judge or arbiter. It is a reminder to all Muslims to not be selective in their faith, But no, by your Lord! They will not believe until they make you a judge in their disputes, then do not find within their hearts any dissent to your verdict and submit in full submission (4:65).

Behold, a part of them turn aside: they do not choose it or accept it because the truth of the matter would not be settled in their favour.[4]

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. It is said that these verses were revealed about one of the hypocrites[5] who had an argument with a Jewish man. The Jewish man demanded that they go to the Prophet so that he would resolve their dispute, whilst the hypocrite demanded they go to Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf, saying the Prophet would be unjust towards them.[6] It has been pointed out that Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf reportedly died approximately two years after the migration to Medina, whilst this surah was revealed in the fifth or sixth year AH.[7] It is also worth noting that the same reason of revelation has been mentioned for verse 4:60.[8]
2. Another report claims it was revealed about Imam Ali (a) and al-Mughīrah ibn Wāʾil, who shared a portion of land which they divided up with each other. The portion that ended up being Imam Ali’s (a) was without any water and difficult to irrigate. Mughīrah asked the Imam to sell him his portion, and they agreed and exchanged on the deal. Later, people berated Mughīrah, saying: ‘You have purchased a bad piece of land which cannot be watered.’ Mughīrah was filled with buyer’s remorse and came to Imam Ali (a) and said: ‘Take back your land. I bought it with the condition that I would be pleased with it, but I am not pleased with it, since it cannot be watered.’ The Imam replied: ‘Rather you bought it and were pleased with it and took it and knew what it was like. I do not accept [to take it back] from you.’ He invited Mughīrah that they go to the Prophet who could judge between them. To this Mughīrah replied: ‘I will not go to Muhammad nor ask him to judge on the matter, because he hates me and I fear he will be unjust.’[9] In some versions of the report, Mughīrah is replaced with ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān. In those versions it is al-Ḥakam ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ who urges ʿUthmān not to go to the Prophet, saying: ‘If you let his cousin decide on the matter, he will decide it in his benefit.’[10]
3. The third option is that it was revealed in general about the hypocrites and those weak in faith.[11] This third option is of course stating the obvious and is in reality simply a rejection of the above two reports.
4. From Imam Ali (a): ‘There are some whose faith is firm and steadfast in their hearts, whilst others their faith is like a temporary loan [given and then taken back], somewhere between the heart and the chest, until an appointed time.’[12]

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother takes another to court – and this in front of unbelievers![13]

[1] See also 4:61-69.
[2] Mizan, 15/146. See also Baydawi, 4/111; Alusi, 9/386.
[3] Tibyan, 7/451; Nemuneh, 14/515.
[4] Tibyan, 7/450.
[5] He is often named as Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith.
[6] Tibyan, 7/450; Tabrisi, 7/236; Thalabi, 7/113; Baghawi, 3/423; Zamakhshari, 3/248. Ālūsī gives a longer version of the report in which they end up going to the Prophet, who judges in favour of the Jewish man. The hypocrite still does not accept this and demanded they go to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. When they come to ʿUmar, the Jewish man tells him that the Prophet has already judged in the matter between them and complains that the hypocrite did not accept the judgement of the Messenger. ʿUmar asked if this was true and when the hypocrite confirmed it, he told them to wait. He went to his house and fetched his sword and came out and struck the hypocrite, killing him, saying: ‘This is how I judge about the one who does not accept the judgement of the Messenger of God.’ The Prophet then reportedly praised ʿUmar for his action, saying: ‘You are al-Fārūq,’ (the one who differentiates between right and wrong). Then Gabriel came and gave that same name to ʿUmar (Alusi, 9/385). The same report is mentioned by others in the commentary on 4:60 (for example Thalabi, 3/337; Baghawi, 1/655; Zamakhshari, 1/525; Qurtubi, 5/263-264). However, this story has two major flaws. First of all, it makes no sense as to why the Jewish man should agree to go to another judge once the Prophet himself has passed judgement, who was the highest authority in Medina. Secondly, ʿUmar would have committed a crime by murdering the man without having such an authority, nor would the Prophet ever have condoned such an action.
[7] Munyah, 19/128.
[8] See for example Tabrisi, 3/102; Tabari, 5/96.
[9] Razi, 24/410. For different variants of this report see Tibyan, 7/450; Qurtubi, 12/293; Alusi, 9/386.
[10] Tibyan, 7/450; Tabrisi, 7/236. Ṭūsī gives two versions of this report, one which says it was between Imam Ali (a) and ‘a man from Banī Umayyah’.
[11] Razi, 24/410; Suyuti, 5/54.
[12] Nahj, sermon 189.
[13] 1 Corinthians 6:1-6.