A description of the evil traits of Jews has been appearing from the previous verse beginning with: أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا نَصِيبًا مِّنَ الْكِتَابِ يَشْتَرُونَ الضَّلَالَةَ. The present verses also deal with the same subject.
1. Jibt: Originally, the name of an idol which was also used later on for every false god as well as for sorcery.
2. Taghut: Literally signifies the arrogant. It is ai. used for Satan, and for evil and falsehood.
it variously. Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas, Ibn Jubayr and Abu al-` Aliyah
Commentary
What is Jibt جِبت and Taghut طَاغوت ?
Two words, 'al-Jibt' and 'al-Taghut have been mentioned in the present verse (51). What do they mean? Commentators have explained have said that 'Jibt' comes from the Ethiopian language and refers to a magician while 'Taghut' signifies a soothsayer.
Sayyidna ` Umar says that 'Jibt' means magic and 'Taghut' means Satan. Sayyidna Malik ibn Anas ؓ is reported to have said that everything worshipped other than Allah is covered by the name 'Taghut'.
Imam al-Qurtubi (رح) says that the view of Sayyidna Malik 1bn Anas (رح) ، being more inclusive, is generally preferred because it also has its support from the Holy Qur'an where it is said: أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّـهَ وَاجْتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوتَ (Worship Allah and avoid Taghut.) (16:36) But, really, there is no contradiction as such in these different views. They all can be implied in one or the other sense, as Jibt was essentially the name of an idol after all, but it was later on that it came to be applied to other things and beings worshipped other than Allah. (Ruh al-Ma’ ani)
The present verses in the background of their revelation
Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ narrates that two chiefs of the Jews, Huyayy ibn Akhtab and Ka'b ibn Ashraf came along with a group of theirs, after the battle of Uhud, to meet the Quraysh at Makkah. The Jewish Chief, Ka'b ibn Ashraf met Abu Sufyan and promised to collaborate with him in his fight against the Holy Prophet ﷺ . The people of Makkah told Ka'b ibn Ashraf that they were a people who cheated by making false promises. Then, they challenged them to prostrate before two particular idols (Jibt and Taghut) there, if they really meant what they had said.
So, in order to assure the Quraysh, he did exactly that. After that, Ka'b told the Quraysh: 'Let thirty people from among you and thirty people from among us come forward so that we declare our resolve before the Lord of the Ka'bah that all of us will jointly fight against Muhammad ﷺ .
The Quraysh liked this proposal from Ka'b and this was how they opened a united front against Muslims. After that, Abu Sufyan told Ka'b: You are learned people. You have the Book of Allah with you. But, we are totally ignorant. Now, you let us know what do you think about us - tell us if we are on the right path, or is it Muhammad?
Ka'b asked: 'What is your religion?' Abu Sufyan said: 'We slaughter our camels for the Hajj. We offer their milk to pilgrims, and entertain guests. We maintain good relations with our kin. We make tawaf of the House of Allah and perform ` Umrah. Contrary to this, Muhammad ﷺ has abandoned his ancestral religion and he has cut himself off from his own people and, on top of that, he has challenged our ancestral religion by introducing a new religion of his own.'
Hearing all this, Ka'b ibn Ashraf said: 'You people are on the right path. Muhammad, ﷺ has gone astray.'
Thereupon, Allah Almighty revealed these verses and, thus, exposed their lying and deceit. (Ruh al-Ma’ ani)
The blind pursuit of material gains sometimes makes man surrender religion and faith
Ka'b ibn Ashraf was a distinguished scholar among the Jews. He believed in God and worshipped none but Him. However, when the ghost of overweening personal desires overpowered his mind and heart, he offered to join forces with the Quraysh against Muslims. As we already know, the Quraysh put forth the condition that he should prostrate before their idols. He swallowed this bitter pill to achieve his personal end. Here, we see that he squarely stooped to fulfill the condition imposed by the Quraysh, something, contrary to his religion, but he made no effort to stand by his religious beliefs and did not show the courage to part ways with them on so crucial an issue. The Holy Qur'an mentions a similar incident elsewhere concerning Bal'am ibn Ba’ ur. It says: وَاتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ الَّذِي آتَيْنَاهُ آيَاتِنَا فَانسَلَخَ مِنْهَا فَأَتْبَعَهُ الشَّيْطَانُ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْغَاوِينَ ﴿175﴾ (Recite to them the news of the one who was given Our signs, then he eased out from it and followed the Satan, and he was one of those who seduce people to err.) (7:175)
Commentators say that Bal'am ibn Ba’ ur was a great scholar and a mendicant who wielded spiritual powers. But, when he launched his sinister plans against Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) ، in an effort to achieve his personal desires, he was unable to achieve anything against him, but what did happen was that he himself ended up being accursed and went astray.
This tells us that religious knowledge as culled from a book is not enough to guarantee the desired benefit. What is needed is action sought by the knowledge. This will not be possible unless one totally abstains from material greed and from the pursuit of carnal desires. Otherwise, man would not stay strong enough to resist against sacrificing something so dear as his religion on the altar of his desires. In our own time, we have the kind of people who would abandon their trice creed just to achieve their material and political goals. Some of them would go for the extra effort to dress up their secular beliefs and views with the garb of Islam. Such people less care about the grave Covenant between God and man, nor do they worry much about what would happen to them in the Akhirah. All this happens when one abandons his true and right creed and starts following the signals of the Satan.