ۖ ۗ
Many among the People of the Book wish to turn you back, after your faith, into rejecters of truth, out of envy arising from within themselves, after the truth became clear to them. So pardon and overlook until The God brings His command. Indeed, The God has power over all things.
In the name of The God.
The verse opens with a precise expression:
“Many among the People of the Book wish…”
The Qur’an does not say all the People of the Book. “Many” means a large number of them: the criticism is severe, but it does not condemn the entire community without exception. The same Qur’an says of the People of the Book in Aal Imran 3:113, “They are not all alike.”
Yet concerning these “many,” the statement is very strong. Their desire goes beyond remaining without faith themselves:
“They wish they could turn you back, after your faith, into rejecters of truth.”
Their wish here concerns another person’s loss of something good. Faith has reached others, but instead of approaching it themselves, they wish believers would lose it too.
The Qur’an also names the cause:
“Out of envy arising from within themselves.”
The Arabic root for envy, Ḥ S D, deserves a separate study. At least one point becomes clear in this verse: envy is not merely seeing a blessing in someone else and wanting something similar for oneself. It can reach the point where another person’s possession of that good becomes intolerable and one wishes for its disappearance. Here, that good is neither wealth nor position; it is faith.
An-Nisa 4:54 connects the same failing with divine bounty: do they envy people for what The God has given them from His bounty?
This verse makes clearer a thread already running through Al-Baqarah. In 2:90, the objection was to The God sending down from His bounty upon whomever He willed among His servants. In 2:105, those among the People of the Book who rejected truth, and those who associate others with The God, were said to resent good being sent down to believers from their Lord. Now, in 2:109, one of the roots of that reaction is named: envy.
But perhaps the most troubling part of the verse is this:
“After the truth had become clear to them.”
The problem is not always ignorance. Sometimes truth becomes clear, but clarity alone does not secure acceptance. People can understand something, yet envy, partisanship, self-interest, or an inward attachment can prevent them from humbling themselves before it.
The response commanded by the Qur’an here is particularly significant:
“So pardon and overlook.”
The Arabic verb for “pardon”, from ʿ F W, is connected with letting go and ceasing to pursue a wrong. The verb for “overlook”, from Ṣ F Ḥ, conveys, in this context, turning away from continued confrontation and not pursuing it. There is no need to rank one above the other; together, they express self-restraint and refraining from a hasty reaction.
This matters greatly. Faced with a group who not only refuse faith but also wish, out of envy, for believers to return to rejecting truth, the Qur’an first commands pardon and overlooking. Religious opposition is therefore not turned into violence and fighting from the outset.
Elsewhere, the Qur’an develops this wisdom further: inviting with wisdom and good counsel in An-Nahl 16:125; discussing with the People of the Book in the best manner in Al-‘Ankabut 29:46; kindness and justice toward those who have not fought people or driven them from their homes in Al-Mumtahanah 60:8; and drawing boundaries with those who undertake warfare and expulsion in Al-Mumtahanah 60:9.
These rulings do not abrogate one another; they complement one another. Each governs a situation: pardon and overlooking, invitation, conversation, debate, justice, honoring treaties, and, where appropriate, resisting aggression.
The Qur’an itself says in An-Nisa 4:82 that, had it come from anyone other than The God, people would have found “much inconsistency” in it. In this set of passages, too, we find coherence rather than inconsistency. The problem arises when we set verses addressing different situations against one another, then deprive one of its authority to resolve a contradiction we have created ourselves.
As for the expression:
“Until The God brings His command.”
The verse says this much: until The God brings His command. As to exactly what this “command” is, it is better to stop where the Qur’an itself stops.
The verse ends with the same truth stated a few verses earlier:
“The God has power over all things.”
Pardon and overlooking therefore do not arise from powerlessness. This is the right command at this stage, while ultimate power and the outcome of affairs remain in the hands of The God.
Within part of the inherited tradition of juristic opinion and hadith, it is claimed that the command “Pardon and overlook” was later abrogated by verses such as At-Tawbah 9:5. But when this claim is measured against the Qur’an itself, its fundamental problems become apparent.
First, no verse says that Al-Baqarah 2:109 has lost its authority. The doctrine of abrogation is imposed from outside on the relationship between these verses.
Second, the subjects of the two verses are not fundamentally the same. Al-Baqarah 2:109 speaks of:
“Many among the People of the Book.”
At-Tawbah 9:5, by contrast, concerns those who associate others with The God.
This distinction cannot be ignored, especially when this very surah, just four verses earlier in 2:105, names the People of the Book and those who associate others with The God separately. If the Qur’an itself distinguishes these two designations, how can a command concerning the latter be taken to invalidate a ruling concerning the People of the Book?
Surah At-Tawbah does not erase this distinction either: 9:29 names the People of the Book separately.
Third, even At-Tawbah 9:5 is not an isolated, universal command to kill every person who associates others with The God, everywhere and at all times. The surrounding verses clarify its subject. At-Tawbah 9:4 says to honor the treaties of those who have not broken them until their term expires. At-Tawbah 9:6 says that if one of those who associate others with The God seeks protection, grant it and then escort that person to a place of safety. At-Tawbah 9:7 likewise preserves faithfulness to a treaty for as long as the other party remains faithful to it.
Thus, even the verse invoked to “abrogate” pardon stands within a set of rulings concerning treaties, security, and a state of war.
These verses are not in conflict with one another. One commands pardon and overlooking in response to envy and religious hostility; another teaches conversation and invitation; another governs justice and coexistence with those who are not fighting; another preserves faithfulness to treaties; and other verses concern those who have entered into warfare and aggression.
They do not abrogate one another; they complement one another.
When an interpreter cannot distinguish the situations, complementary verses appear contradictory. To resolve a disagreement arising within their own understanding, the interpreter then declares one verse “abrogated.” In this method, rather than resolving a problem in the Qur’an, the doctrine of abrogation in practice conceals the interpreter’s error of understanding.
The Qur’an itself says that, had it come from anyone other than The God, much inconsistency would have been found in it. Before silencing a verse, then, we should ask whether the inconsistency is really in the Book, or whether we have yet to understand the relationship between its verses correctly.
A theory that deprives “Pardon and overlook” of its authority through At-Tawbah 9:5 not only destroys the coherence of these rulings but also conflates two groups that the Qur’an itself distinguishes in this very context.
A detailed examination of this issue and other examples set aside in the name of abrogation appears in Naskh in the Qur’an: Challenging the Claim That Its Verses Can Be Set Aside.