The present verses and those appearing immediately earlier were revealed in the background of an incident relating to Bishr, the hypocrite. As we already know, he had first proposed Ka'b Ibn Ashraf, the Jew as the adjudicator of his dispute, but, later on, mutual discussions forced him to go to the Holy Prophet ﷺ for this purpose.
Since the judgment of the Holy Prophet ﷺ was against him, he did not accept it and went to Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ for a totally fresh decision.
When the news of this incident got around in the city of Madinah, the Jews chided Muslims by saying: 'What sort of people you really are? Here you are believing in a Messenger of Allah and claiming to follow him, yet you do not accept his decisions! Look, in -order that their repentance be accepted, the Jews were commanded to kill each other. This was a severe command, but we obeyed it, so much so that seventy thousand of our people were killed. If you were given a command like that, what would you have done?' Thereupon, the verse وَلَوْ أَنَّا كَتَبْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ (And if We had prescribed for them ...) was revealed. It means: If these hypocrites, or all common people, disbelievers or believers, were charged with some severe command, such as that of self-killing or migration like the Bani' Isra` il were ordered to do, very few of them would have, being what they are, obeyed this command.
On the one hand, there is a stern warning here for people who try to seek the solutions of their disputes, not from the Messenger of Allah, or not from the Law and Way of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ، but take it elsewhere. On the other hand, it answers the chiding of the Jews because this state of affairs fits the hypocrites and certainly not those who are firm in their faith as true Muslims. This is proved by what happened when this verse was revealed. Someone from among the noble Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all, said: 'Allah did not put us through this trial.' When this statement was relayed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، he said: 'There are people in my community in whose heart Faith is entrenched firm like mountains.' Ibn Wahab says that this statement was made by Sayyidna Abu Bakr رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہ .
According to another narration, when Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ heard this verse, he said: Had this command been prescribed, by God, I would have been the first to sacrifice myself and my family to obey.
According to some other narrations, when this verse was revealed, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: If this command to self-kill or migrate had come from Allah, Umm ` Abd (meaning Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ would have definitely acted accord-ingly.' As for migration, the noble Companions ؓ acted faithfully and selflessly when they left their homes in Makkah, left their properties and businesses, and migrated to Madinah.
Towards the end of the verse (66), it has been said that, difficult though it may seem, yet doing, so in obedience to their Lord's command would turn out to be better for them in the end. This will make their faith more firm, bringing a great reward from Allah, and the blessing of being guided to the straight path.
This great reward promised here in the end of verse 67 for those who obey Allah and His Messenger has been described immediately after in verses 69 and 70 which follow with detailed explanations of the promised ranks. it.