2:84

Wa iz akhaznaa meesaa qakum laa tasfikoona dimaaa'akum wa laa tukrijoona anfusakum

min diyaarikum summa aqrartum wa antum tashhadoon

And We made a covenant with you: "You shall not shed the blood of your own, nor
shall you evict your own from your homes." You agreed, and were all witnesses.

And (remember) when We took your covenant (saying): Shed not the blood of your
(people), nor turn out your own people from their dwellings. Then (this) you
ratified and (to
this) you bore witness.

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ASBAB AL NUZUL

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- The Terms of the Covenant and their Breach of It

- Allah criticized the Jews who lived in Al-Madinah during the time of the
Messenger of Allah
They used to suffer, because of the armed conflicts between the tribes of Al-
Madinah, Aws and
Khazraj .Before Islam, the Aws and Khazraj worshipped idols, and many battles took
place
between them. There were three Jewish tribes in Al-Madinah at that time, Banu
Qaynuqa` and
Banu An-Nadir, the allies of the Khazraj , and Banu Qurayzah, who used to be the
allies of the
Aws. When war erupted between Aws and Khazraj, their Jewish allies would assist
them. The
Jew would kill his Arab enemy, and sometimes they also killed Jews who were the
allies of the
other Arab tribe, although the Jews were prohibited from killing each other
according to clear
religious texts in their Books. They would also drive each other from their homes
and loot
whatever furniture and money they could. When the war ended, the victorious Jews
would
release the prisoners from the defeated party, according to the rulings of the
Tawrah. This is
why Allah said,

"Then do you believe in a part of the Scripture and reject the rest" Allah said,

"And (remember) when We took your covenant (saying): Shed not the blood of your
(people)
nor turn out your own people from their dwellings"

meaning, "Do not kill each other, nor expel

one another from their homes, nor participate in fighting against them.

- Allah mentioned the word 'your own' here, just as He said in another Ayah

"So turn in repentance to your Creator and kill yourselves, that will be better for
you with your
Creator" (2:54) because the followers of one religion are just like one soul.
- Also, the Messenger of Allah said

"The example of the believers in their kindness, mercy and sympathy to each other
is the
example of one body, when an organ of it falls ill, the rest of the body rushes to
its aid in fever
and sleeplessness"

- Allah's statement

"Then, (this) you ratified and (to this) you bore witness" means, "You testified
that you know
of the covenant and that you were witnesses to it

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TAFSIR AL TUSTARI

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Decoding the Quran

And recall when We took your word that you will not shed each other’s blood or
evict one another from your homes, and you had bore witness and consented to this.

...
[2:84] And when We made a covenant with you, and We said: ‘You shall not shed your
own blood, spilling it by slaying one another; neither expel your own from your
habitations’: let no one of you expel the other from his house; then you confirmed
it, that is, you accepted this covenant, and you bore witness, upon your own souls.