"Sell not Allah’s signs for a miserable price." How should this verse be understood?

- Is it not permissible to sell the books and panels in which the signs (verses) of the Quran are written?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Jews are asked not to pursue worldly possessions and ranks, which are not valuable at all compared to salvation in the hereafter, at the cost of being deprived of salvation in the hereafter by rejecting the true religion. The statement "sell not my signs for a miserable price" is a definite warning to those who use Allah's lofty and sacred book and religion for their personal and material interests, misinterpret it and try to show harams as halals and vice versa. (see Ateş, I, 155-156; Ibn Ashur, 1,467-469; Kur’an Yolu: I/52-53)

What is mentioned in the verse above and similar ones is not selling the verses for a certain amount of money literally. On the contrary, "to sell their religion for the world" means to violate Allah’s orders and prohibitions imposed by the verses for the worthless interests of the ephemeral world and to obey the suggestions of Satan and the evil-commanding soul despite the belief in their hearts, which is a mean and vile act. 

For instance, it is possible to see this issue in verse 44 (which addresses Jews) of the chapter of al-Maida “sell not my signs for a miserable price”, at the end of the same verse “If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers” and in verse 47 (which addresses Christians) of the chapter of al-Maida “If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel”.

It means to sell the verses of Allah for a miserable price for Jewish judges to make wrong and unjust judgments deliberately by taking bribes, not to apply the punishment of stoning or to apply it only for ordinary people and to hide the attributes of Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) deliberately so as not to lose their prestige in the eye of people.

If it had been revealed that Muhammad (pbuh) was the true prophet, the scholars would have had to get the information they needed from him. The rabbis and the priests would have lost their positions as the religious authority and they would have had to stay in the background when the people would have been subject to the new prophet. These authorities were also used as material authorities along with spiritual authorities. As a matter of fact, After listening to the envoys of the Prophet (pbuh) and Abu Sufyan, who had not yet believed in the Prophet yet, the Byzantine King said that he was the true prophet, but because of the rebellion of the priests there, said he had joked in order to maintain his kingdom.  

However, as the Quran clearly states, the Jewish rabbis, who sold their religion for the world and who were accustomed to leading their lives with unfair gains such as bribery, would not only have lost their offices if they believed but they would also have lost their revenues.

It is permissible to sell the books and panels in which the Quranic verses are written. It has nothing to do with the issue mentioned in the verse.

Questions on Islam