From the Book, Introduction to the Tafseer of the Quran, by the Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, the eminent jurist and statesman, Sheikh Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لاَ تَقُولُوا رَاعِنَا وَقُولُوا انظُرْنَا وَاسْمَعُوا وَلِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ مَا يَوَدُّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَلاَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ أَنْ يُنَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَاللَّهُ يَخْتَصُّ بِرَحْمَتِهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ
"O you who believe! Say not (to the Messenger) Ra'ina رَاعِنَا an insult in Hebrew which in Arabic means hear us) but say Unzurna (انظُرْنَا) (make us understand) and hear. And for the disbelievers there is a painful torment. Neither those who disbelieve among the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) nor Al-Mushrikeen (the idolaters) like that there should be sent down unto you any good from your Lord. But Allah chooses for His mercy whom He wills. And Allah is the Owner of great bounty."
(Surah al-Baqarah 2:104-105)
Allah سبحانه وتعالى shows in these Ayahs the following:
1. If the term takes Idiomatic (IsTilaaHee) meaning, i.e. common meaning; and it became used in that meaning then the focus of understanding the Legal Ruling (Hukm Shar'i) will be the meaning of Idiomatic and it is not a Linguistic (Lughawi) meaning. The word راعنا is an Arabic word which means wait for us and give us a break; and this meaning is the same meaning of the word AnZarnaa (انظرنا). However, the Jews use the word Ra'ina (راعنا) in the sense of insults and verbal abuse. They exploited the use by the Muslims in the appeal of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم with the intention of insults. Therefore, the Aayah (Verse) was revealed for the purpose of the Muslims not to use this word because it has become idiomatic – common meaning - with a new meaning, and the Legal Ruling for such words are projected on the Idiomatic meaning and not on the Linguistic meaning.
2. Allah revealed in the Aayah, وَاسْمَعُواwhich means listen well from the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم and be near him, so the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is not re-questioned about what he صلى الله عليه وسلم said, so as to obey the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم.
Allah سبحانه وتعالى concludes the Ayah وَلِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ "And a painful torment for the Kafireen" and the ال "The" is to identify the Kafireen (Disbelievers) and warn those who used to say that word راعنا to insult the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم; the Jews, of a painful torment.
3. Allah سبحانه وتعالى tells us those who disbelieved from the People of the Book and the Mushrikeen (Polytheists) did not like the Revelation to descend upon them and they saw that they deserved the Revelation more than any other Ummah. Therefore, they will be jealous of you and became your enemy because Allah سبحانه وتعالى chose you with His Mercy and Revelation. This is a sign that they were expecting the Prophet to be from them- the Jews - and when it was from others, they objected to him; and were envious and became hostile against him.
Allah سبحانه وتعالى concludes the Aayah that Allah سبحانه وتعالى renders the Prophethood to whomever He wishes, and granting of Prophethood is of great virtue.
الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَلاَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ "Neither those who disbelieve among the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) nor Al-Mushrikin." From (من Min) is from Identification (زائدة Bayaan). The People of the Book and the Mushreks are Kafireen.
مِنْ خَيْرٍ "From good", Min is of Redundancy (بيان Zaa'ida) to signify the goodness i.e. that it is a great good.
مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ "From your Lord" Min denotes the beginning of the objective, which means that Allah سبحانه وتعالى begins sending the revelation in you.
Benefit from the Idiomatic (IsTilaaHee) meaning:
For example, if we were to ask about the Hukm on socialism, we should not look into the Linguistic meaning of socialism which means; subscribe or partners or company and extract the Hukm from them. Instead, we must focus on the Islamic ruling of the Idiomatic meaning of the word "socialism." Then, we will find that its people call it by that name to refer to a distinct ideology which denies that there is a Creator to the material ...etc, and in this sense, we say that the socialist system is a Kufr (Disbelief) system due to the Idiomatic (IsTilaaHee) meaning for it.
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