وَأَقِیمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتُوا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَٱرۡكَعُوا۟ مَعَ ٱلرَّ ٰكِعِینَ
قَوْلُهُ تَعالى: ﴿وأقِيمُوا الصَّلاةَ وآتُوا الزَّكاةَ وارْكَعُوا مَعَ الرّاكِعِينَ﴾ لا يَخْلُو مِن أنْ يَكُونَ راجِعًا إلى صَلاةٍ مَعْهُودَةٍ وزَكاةٍ مَعْلُومَةٍ وقَدْ عَرَفَها، أوْ أنْ يَكُونَ مُتَناوِلًا صَلاةً مُجْمَلَةً وزَكاةً مُجْمَلَةً مَوْقُوفَةً عَلى البَيانِ، إلّا أنّا قَدْ عَلِمْنا الآنَ أنَّهُ قَدْ أُرِيدَ بِهِما فِيما خُوطِبْنا بِهِ مِن هَذِهِ الصَّلَواتِ المَفْرُوضَةِ والزَّكَواتِ الواجِبَةِ، إمّا لِأنَّهُ كانَ ذَلِكَ مَعْلُومًا عِنْدَ المُخاطَبِينَ في حالِ وُرُودِ الخِطابِ، أوْ أنْ يَكُونَ كانَ ذَلِكَ مُجْمَلًا ورَدَ بَعْدَهُ بَيانُ المُرادِ فَحَصَلَ ذَلِكَ مَعْلُومًا.
His, the Exalted’s, statement: {And establish the prayer and give the zakah and bow with those who bow} is not devoid of either referring to a specific, known prayer and a known zakah which they had known, or pertaining to an unspecified prayer and an unspecified zakah that is contingent upon clarification. However, we now know that what was intended by them, in what we have been addressed with, are these obligatory prayers and mandatory zakahs, either because that was known to the addressees at the time the address was received, or that it was unspecified and after it came the clarification of what was intended, and thus it became known.
وأمّا قَوْلُهُ: ﴿وارْكَعُوا مَعَ الرّاكِعِينَ﴾ فَإنَّهُ يُفِيدُ إثْباتَ فَرْضِ الرُّكُوعِ في الصَّلاةِ، وقِيلَ إنَّهُ إنَّما خَصَّ الرُّكُوعَ لِأنَّ أهْلَ الكِتابِ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهم رُكُوعٌ في صَلاتِهِمْ فَنَصَّ عَلى الرُّكُوعِ فِيها ويَحْتَمِلُ أنْ يَكُونَ قَوْلُهُ: ﴿وارْكَعُوا﴾ عِبارَةً عَنِ الصَّلاةِ نَفْسِها كَما عَبَّرَ عَنْها بِالقِراءَةِ في قَوْلِهِ: ﴿فاقْرَءُوا ما تَيَسَّرَ مِنَ القُرْآنِ﴾ [المزمل: ٢٠]
As for His statement: {and bow with those who bow}, it indicates the establishment of the obligation of bowing (ruku’) in the prayer. And it has been said that He only specified the bowing (ruku’) because the People of the Book did not have bowing (ruku’) in their prayer, so He explicitly mentioned the bowing (ruku’) in it. And it is possible that His statement: {and bow} is an expression for the prayer itself, just as it was expressed by ’the recitation’ in His statement: {So recite what is easy from the Qur’an} [Al-Muzzammil: 20]
وقَوْلِهِ: ﴿وقُرْآنَ الفَجْرِ إنَّ قُرْآنَ الفَجْرِ كانَ مَشْهُودًا﴾ [الإسراء: ٧٨] والمَعْنى صَلاةُ الفَجْرِ؛ فَيَنْتَظِمُ وجْهَيْنِ مِنَ الفائِدَةِ:
and His statement: {and the recitation of dawn. Indeed, the recitation of dawn is ever witnessed} [Al-Isra: 78], and the meaning is the dawn prayer; thus, it comprises two points of benefit:
أحَدُهُما: إيجابُ الرُّكُوعِ؛ لِأنَّهُ لَمْ يُعَبِّرُ عَنْها بِالرُّكُوعِ إلّا وهو مِن فَرْضِها، والثّانِي: الأمْرُ بِالصَّلاةِ مَعَ المُصَلِّينَ
The first of them: mandating the bowing (ruku’), because He would not have expressed it [the prayer] by the bowing (ruku’) unless it was one of its obligations. And the second: the command to pray with those who pray.
فَإنْ قِيلَ: قَدْ تَقَدَّمَ ذِكْرُ الصَّلاةِ في قَوْلِهِ: ﴿وأقِيمُوا الصَّلاةَ﴾ فَغَيْرُ جائِزٍ أنْ يُرِيدَ بِعِطْفِ الرُّكُوعِ عَلَيْها الصَّلاةَ بِعَيْنِها قِيلَ لَهُ: هَذا جائِزٌ إذا أُرِيدَ بِالصَّلاةِ المَبْدُوءِ بِذِكْرِها الإجْمالُ دُونَ صَلاةٍ مَعْهُودَةٍ فَيَكُونُ حِينَئِذٍ قَوْلُهُ: ﴿وارْكَعُوا مَعَ الرّاكِعِينَ﴾ إحالَةً لَهم عَلى الصَّلاةِ الَّتِي بَيَّنَها بِرُكُوعِها وسائِرِ فُرُوضِها وأيْضًا لَمّا كانَتْ صَلاةُ أهْلِ الكِتابِ بِغَيْرِ رُكُوعٍ وكانَ في اللَّفْظِ احْتِمالُ رُجُوعِهِ إلى تِلْكَ الصَّلاةِ بَيَّنَ أنَّهُ لَمْ يُرِدِ الصَّلاةَ الَّتِي يَتَعَبَّدُ بِها أهْلُ الكِتابِ بَلِ الَّتِي فِيها الرُّكُوعُ.
If it is said: The mention of the prayer has already preceded in His statement: {And establish the prayer}, so it is not valid that He would intend, by conjoining the bowing to it, the prayer itself. It is said to him: This is permissible if what is intended by the prayer mentioned at the beginning is the general sense, not a specific, known prayer. In that case, His statement: {and bow with those who bow} would be a referral for them to the prayer which He clarified by its bowing and the rest of its obligations. Furthermore, since the prayer of the People of the Book was without bowing, and there was in the wording a possibility of it referring to that prayer, He clarified that He did not intend the prayer with which the People of the Book worship, but rather the one in which there is bowing.