ONE AYAT A DAY
۞ اَتَأْمُرُوْنَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنْسَوْنَ اَنْفُسَكُمْ وَاَنْتُمْ تَتْلُوْنَ الْكِتٰبَ ۗ اَفَلَا تَعْقِلُوْنَ
Ata'murūnan-nāsa bil-birri wa tansauna anfusakum wa antum tatlūnal-kitāb(a), afalā ta‘qilūn(a).
Do you order righteousness of the people and forget yourselves while you recite the Scripture? Then will you not reason?
The Condemnation of commanding Others to observe Righteousnesswhile ignoring RighteousnessAllah said, "How is it, O People of the Book, that you command people to perform Al-Birr, which encompasses all types of righteousness, yet forget yourselves and do not heed what you call others to And you read Allah's Book (the Tawrah) and know what it promises to those who do not fulfill Allah's commandments.أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ(Have you then no sense) of what you are doing to yourselves, so that you might become aware of your slumber and restore your sight from blindness" `Abdur-Razzaq said that Ma`mar stated that Qatadah commented on Allah's statement,أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنسَوْنَ أَنفُسَكُمْ(Enjoin you Al-Birr (piety and righteousness and every act of obedience to Allah) on the people and you forget (to practise it) yourselves,) "The Children of Israel used to command people to obey Allah, fear Him and perform Al-Birr. Yet, they contradicted these orders, so Allah reminded them of this fact." As-Suddi said similarly. Ibn Jurayj said that the Ayah:أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ(Enjoin you Al-Birr on the people) "Is about the People of the Book and the hypocrites. They used to command people to pray and fast. However, they did not practice what they commanded others. Allah reminded them of this behavior. So whoever commands people to do righteousness, let him be among…