ONE AYAT A DAY
وَاَقِيْمُوا الصَّلٰوةَ وَاٰتُوا الزَّكٰوةَ ۗ وَمَا تُقَدِّمُوْا لِاَنْفُسِكُمْ مِّنْ خَيْرٍ تَجِدُوْهُ عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ ۗ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُوْنَ بَصِيْرٌ
Wa aqīmuṣ-ṣalāta wa ātuz-zakāh(ta), wa mā tuqaddimū li'anfusikum min khairin tajidūhu ‘indallāh(i), innallāha bimā ta‘malūna baṣīr(un).
And establish prayer and give zakāh, and whatever good you put forward for yourselves - you will find it with Allāh. Indeed Allāh, of what you do, is Seeing.
The Prohibition of following the Ways of the People of the BookAllah warned His believing servants against following the ways of the People of Book, who publicly and secretly harbor emnity and hatred for the believers, and who envy the believers, while they recognize the virtue of the believers and their Prophet . Allah also commanded His believing servants to forgive them and to be patient with them, until Allah delivers His aid and victory to them. Allah commanded the believers to perform the prayer perfectly, to pay the Zakah and He encouraged them to preserve the practice of these righteous deeds.Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that `Abdullah bin Ka`b bin Malik said that Ka`b bin Al-Ashraf, who was a Jew and a poet, used to criticize the Prophet in his poems, so Allah revealed,وَدَّ كَثِيرٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَـبِ لَوْ يَرُدُّونَكُم(Many of the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) wish that they could turn you away..) regarding his matter.Also, Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn `Abbas said, "An unlettered Messenger came to the People of the Scriptures confirming what they have in their own Books about the Messengers and the Ayat of Allah. He also believes in all of this, just as they believe in it. Yet, they rejected the Prophet out of disbelief, envy and transgression. This is why Allah said,كُفَّارًا حَسَدًا مِّنْ عِنْدِ أَنْفُسِهِمْ مِّن بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الْحَقُّ(out o…