Overall meaning : Allah Almighty says, addressing His Prophet, Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: We have sent down to you the Qur’an with the truth, confirming the truth of the divinely revealed books before it, containing what they contained and even more, as a guardian over them, abrogating their laws, superseding them and with final authority over them. Then He instructs him to judge between the People of the Book and others according to what He has revealed in the Qur’an and forbids him from following their desires opposing the truth He has revealed to him. He also states that for each nation He has appointed a law and a way of life and that had He so willed, He would surely have made them one single community following the same way of life and system; instead, He has given each of them a law and a way of life in order to test them by what He has given them. Then He urges people to hasten and compete with one another in doing good deeds, pointing out that they will all be returned to Him and that He will inform them concerning what they have differed about.
He then commands His Prophet to judge among them according to what He has revealed to him in the Qur’an and not to follow their whims, and warns him against being turned away by them from part of what He has revealed to him in His Book. If they reject his judgement, He informs him, he must then know that the reason for their rejection is that Allah intends to punish them for some of the sins they have committed, stating that many people are disobedient to their Lord.
He further says to His Prophet: Or do these Jews and others seek judgments that are entirely at variance with the truth and are based on ignorance and injustice?! Then He explains that no one can give better judgement than He, a fact which is evident to those who firmly believe in Him and are absolutely certain that He is the best judge.