[188] Ibn ʿAṭiyyah relates in his Tafsīr the consensus that al-Bayt (The House) here is the Kaʿbah itself. (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Shinqīṭī)
[189] They chanted this supplication while building the Kaʿbah (cf. al-Bukhārī: 3364).
[190] Muslimayn (dual form of muslim), i.e. both of us totally submitted to God. Total submission to God and devotion to Him in worship is the basic meaning of Islām. All Prophets were ‘Muslim’ in as much as they were wholly devoted to God and sincerely submitted to Him in worship according to their own respective creeds. Needless to say, after Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) was sent to mankind no other religion except Islam is accepted from anyone (cf. 3: 85).
[191] Guide and teach us how to perform our rites correctly.
[192] These are the rites of Hajj in particular. (al-Ṭabarī, al-Wāḥidī, Ibn ʿĀshūr)
[193] The submitting nation from among the posterity of Abraham and Ishmael.
[194] The Messenger is Muhammad (ﷺ). This is further explained in 62: 2. (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, Ibn Kathīr, al-Shinqīṭī)
[195] Ayas of the Qur’an (lit. Signs).
[196] Teach them the interpretation and rulings of the Qur’an. (al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, Ibn ʿĀshūr)
[197] Exegetes differed as to the exact meaning of ḥikmah, translated here as Wisdom, but al-Ṭabarī concludes that it means knowledge of God’s commands which are not known except by the explanation of the Messenger (ﷺ). That is the Prophet’s (ﷺ) Sunnah and oral traditions, Hadiths.
[198] Make them more devout to God and free from Associating others in worship with Him. (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Qurṭubī, al-Saʿdī)
[199] The ‘creed of Ibrāhīm’, millata Ibrāhīm, known as ḥanīfiyyah, is the most primordial, pristine, uncorrupted precursor to all heavenly-revealed religions. The Qur’an underlines Islam’s close relation to it in various places: 2: 35, 4: 125, 6: 161 and 16: 123.
[200] The lofty status in which Prophet Abraham (عليه السلام) is held in the Qur’an and the relatedness of Islam with his creed is further expounded in: 16: 12-123.
[201] Aṣ-Ṣāliḥūn are God’s Prophets and Messengers, who hold the highest ranks in Paradise. (al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī)
[202] Unconditional submission and utter surrender to God’s Will capture the essence of ḥanīfiyyah. This word (Islām) was bequeathed to Abraham’s posterity forever so that they might remain true to it (cf. 43: 26-28).
[203] Jacob, the forefather of the Israelites, also known as Israel, was the son of Isaac, Abraham’s son. (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, Ibn ʿĀshūr)
[204] The direct addressees were the Jews of Madinah who Denied Prophet Muhammad’s (ﷺ) Messengership. (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Qurṭubī, al-Saʿdī, Ibn ʿĀshūr)
[205] Ishmael was actually Jacob’s paternal uncle. They counted him among Jacob’s ‘fathers’ out of respect.
[206] Although the People of the Book are reminded of the true faith of their patriarchs, they are also cautioned not to be boastful about it and to do some soul searching by asking themselves the difficult question of how far removed they are from the essence of real surrender to God’s Will (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, Ibn ʿĀshūr).