Ibn Jarīr presented them (10/346-357) with his chains of narration to those who said them, then concluded by saying (10/358): "The most correct of these opinions, in my view, is the one that says: These verses were revealed concerning the disbelievers among the People of the Book, because the verses before and after them were revealed about them, and they are the ones intended by them. These verses are in the context of reporting about them, so it is more appropriate that they are about them. If someone were to say: Allāh, the Exalted, has generalized the report about all those who do not judge by what Allāh has revealed, so how have you made it specific? It is said: Allāh, the Exalted, generalized the report about a people who rejected Allāh’s judgment that He decreed in His Book, and He informed about them that by abandoning the judgment—in the manner they abandoned it—they are disbelievers. Likewise, the statement applies to anyone who does not judge by what Allāh has revealed, rejecting it, he is a disbeliever in Allāh, as Ibn ʿAbbās said, because by rejecting Allāh’s judgment after knowing that He revealed it in His Book, it is akin to rejecting the prophethood of His Prophet after knowing that he is a prophet." In summary, the verse was revealed concerning the Jews who rejected what Allāh revealed. Whoever shares with them in rejection is a disbeliever in terms of belief, and whoever does not share with them in rejection, his disbelief is practical because he acted like them. Thus, he is a criminal and sinful, but he does not thereby leave the faith, as previously mentioned by Ibn ʿAbbās (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu). This has been explained and further clarified by the eminent scholar Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām in "Kitāb al-Īmān" in the chapter "Exiting Faith through Sins" (pp. 84-87, in my edition), so whoever wishes for more detailed investigation should refer to it. After writing the above, I saw that Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (raḥimahu Allāh) says in the interpretation of the aforementioned verse of judgment in "Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá" (3/268): "That is, he is the one who deems it permissible to judge by other than what Allāh has revealed."
ساقها ابنجرير (١٠ / ٣٤٦ - ٣٥٧) بأسانيده إلى قائليها، ثم ختم ذلك بقوله (١٠ / ٣٥٨) : " وأولى هذه الأقوال عندي بالصواب قول من قال: نزلت هذه الآيات في كفارأهل الكتاب، لأن ما قبلها وما بعدها من الآيات ففيهم نزلت، وهم المعنيونبها، وهذه الآيات سياق الخبر عنهم، فكونها خبرا عنهم أولى. فإن قال قائل:فإن الله تعالى ذكره قد عم بالخبر بذلك عن جميع من لم يحكم بما أنزل الله،فكيف جعلته خاصا؟ قيل: إن الله تعالى عم بالخبر بذلك عن قوم كانوا بحكم اللهالذي حكم به في كتابه جاحدين، فأخبر عنهم أنهم بتركهم الحكم - على سبيل ماتركوه - كافرون. وكذلك القول في كل من لم يحكم بما أنزل الله جاحدا به هوبالله كافر، كما قال ابن عباس، لأنه بجحوده حكم الله بعد علمه أنه أنزله فيكتابه، نظير جحوده نبوة نبيه بعد علمه أنه نبي ". وجملة القول أن الآية نزلتفي اليهود الجاحدين لما أنزل الله، فمن شاركهم في الجحد، فهو كافر كفرااعتقاديا، ومن لم يشاركهم في الجحد فكفره عملي لأنه عمل عملهم، فهو بذلكمجرم آثم، ولكن لا يخرج بذلك عن الملة كما تقدم عن ابن عباس ﵁. وقد شرح هذه وزاده بيانا الإمام الحافظ أبو عبيد القاسم ابن سلام في " كتابالإيمان " " باب الخروج من الإيمان بالمعاصي " (ص ٨٤ - ٨٧ - بتحقيقي) ،فليراجعه من شاء المزيد من التحقيق. وبعد كتابة ما سبق، رأيت شيخ الإسلامابن تيمية ﵀ يقول في تفسير آية الحكم المتقدمة في " مجموع الفتاوي " (٣ / ٢٦٨) : " أي هو المستحل للحكم بغير ما أنزل الله ".