Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 2 Al-Baqarah, Ayat 72-82

وَ اِذۡ قَتَلۡتُمۡ نَفۡسًا فَادّٰرَءۡتُمۡ فِيۡهَا ​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ مُخۡرِجٌ مَّا كُنۡتُمۡ تَكۡتُمُوۡنَۚ‏ ﴿2:72﴾ فَقُلۡنَا اضۡرِبُوۡهُ بِبَعۡضِهَا ​ؕ كَذٰلِكَ يُحۡىِ اللّٰهُ الۡمَوۡتٰى ۙ وَيُرِيۡکُمۡ اٰيٰتِهٖ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَعۡقِلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:73﴾ ثُمَّ قَسَتۡ قُلُوۡبُكُمۡ مِّنۡۢ بَعۡدِ ذٰلِكَ فَهِىَ كَالۡحِجَارَةِ اَوۡ اَشَدُّ قَسۡوَةً ​ ؕ وَاِنَّ مِنَ الۡحِجَارَةِ لَمَا يَتَفَجَّرُ مِنۡهُ الۡاَنۡهٰرُ​ؕ وَاِنَّ مِنۡهَا لَمَا يَشَّقَّقُ فَيَخۡرُجُ مِنۡهُ الۡمَآءُ​ؕ وَاِنَّ مِنۡهَا لَمَا يَهۡبِطُ مِنۡ خَشۡيَةِ اللّٰهِ​ؕ وَمَا اللّٰهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعۡمَلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:74﴾ اَفَتَطۡمَعُوۡنَ اَنۡ يُّؤۡمِنُوۡا لَـكُمۡ وَقَدۡ كَانَ فَرِيۡقٌ مِّنۡهُمۡ يَسۡمَعُوۡنَ کَلَامَ اللّٰهِ ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُوۡنَهٗ مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِ مَا عَقَلُوۡهُ وَهُمۡ يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:75﴾ وَاِذَا لَـقُوۡا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا قَالُوۡآ اٰمَنَّا  ۖۚ وَاِذَا خَلَا بَعۡضُهُمۡ اِلٰى بَعۡضٍ قَالُوۡآ اَ تُحَدِّثُوۡنَهُمۡ بِمَا فَتَحَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيۡكُمۡ لِيُحَآجُّوۡكُمۡ بِهٖ عِنۡدَ رَبِّكُمۡ​ؕ اَفَلَا تَعۡقِلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:76﴾ اَوَلَا يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ اَنَّ اللّٰهَ يَعۡلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّوۡنَ وَمَا يُعۡلِنُوۡنَ‏  ﴿2:77﴾ وَ مِنۡهُمۡ اُمِّيُّوۡنَ لَا يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ الۡكِتٰبَ اِلَّاۤ اَمَانِىَّ وَاِنۡ هُمۡ اِلَّا يَظُنُّوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:78﴾ فَوَيۡلٌ لِّلَّذِيۡنَ يَكۡتُبُوۡنَ الۡكِتٰبَ بِاَيۡدِيۡهِمۡ ثُمَّ يَقُوۡلُوۡنَ هٰذَا مِنۡ عِنۡدِ اللّٰهِ لِيَشۡتَرُوۡا بِهٖ ثَمَنًا قَلِيۡلًا ؕ فَوَيۡلٌ لَّهُمۡ مِّمَّا کَتَبَتۡ اَيۡدِيۡهِمۡ وَوَيۡلٌ لَّهُمۡ مِّمَّا يَكۡسِبُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:79﴾ وَقَالُوۡا لَنۡ تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ اِلَّاۤ اَيَّامًا مَّعۡدُوۡدَةً ​ ؕ قُلۡ اَتَّخَذۡتُمۡ عِنۡدَ اللّٰهِ عَهۡدًا فَلَنۡ يُّخۡلِفَ اللّٰهُ عَهۡدَهٗۤ​ اَمۡ تَقُوۡلُوۡنَ عَلَى اللّٰهِ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:80﴾ بَلٰى مَنۡ كَسَبَ سَيِّئَةً وَّاَحَاطَتۡ بِهٖ خَطِيْۤـئَتُهٗ فَاُولٰٓـئِكَ اَصۡحٰبُ النَّارِ​​ۚ هُمۡ فِيۡهَا خٰلِدُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:81﴾ وَالَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا وَعَمِلُوا الصّٰلِحٰتِ اُولٰٓـئِكَ اَصۡحٰبُ الۡجَـنَّةِ ​​ۚ هُمۡ فِيۡهَا خٰلِدُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:82﴾

(2:72) And recall when you killed a man and then began to remonstrate and cast the blame (of killing) upon one another even though Allah was determined to bring to light what you were hiding. (2:73) Then We ordered: “Smite the corpse with a part of it.” Thus does Allah bring the dead to life and thus does He show His Signs that you might understand.85 (2:74) Then (even after observing this) your hearts hardened and became like stones, or even harder. For surely there are some stones from which streams burst forth and some that split asunder and water issues out, and some that crash down for fear of Allah. Allah is not heedless of the things you do. (2:75) Do you hope that these people will believe in the Message you are preaching,86 even though a party of them has been wont to listen to the Word of Allah and after they had fully grasped it, knowingly distorted it?87 (2:76) And when they meet those who believe (in Muhammad) they say: “We too believe in him.” But in their intimate meetings they say to one another: “How foolish! Why should you intimate to them what Allah has revealed to you, for they will use it as argument against you before your Lord?”88 (2:77) Are they unaware that Allah knows all that they hide and all that they disclose? (2:78) Among them are also the unlettered folk who do not know about the Scriptures but cherish baseless wishes and merely follow their conjectures.89 (2:79) Woe, then, to those who write out the Scriptures with their own hands and then, in order to make a trifling gain, claim: “This is from Allah.”90 Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they thus earn. (2:80) They say: “The Fire will certainly not touch us except for a limited number of days.”91 Say (to them): “Have you received a promise from Allah – for Allah never breaks His promise – or do you attribute to Allah something about which you have no knowledge?” (2:81) Those who earn evil and are encompassed by their sinfulness are the people of the Fire, and there will they abide; (2:82) those who believe and do righteous deeds are the people of the Garden, and there will they abide.

Notes

85. At least one thing becomes clear from this statement: that the slain person was restored to life at least long enough to indicate his assassins. But the actual words in which the order 'smite the corpse with a part of it' is couched tend to create a measure of ambiguity. Nevertheless, the meaning inferred by the early Qur'anic commentators - that the order was to smite the slain man's body with some part of the slaughtered cow - seems to me plausible. Two birds were thus killed with one stone: first, they were made to behold a sign of God's power; and second, the notion that the cow possessed any holiness or sanctity was shattered. For if the of the object of their worship - the cow - had any supernatural power, some calamity should have visited them as a consequence of slaughtering it. But no calamity took place. On the contrary, killing the cow seemed to be beneficial insofar as striking a dead man with a part of it brought him back to life.

86. This is addressed to the converts of Madina, who had then lately embraced the faith of the Arabian Prophet. These people had some vague notions about Prophethood, Heavenly Scriptures, Angels, the After-life, Divine Law and so on, and for this they were indebted to their Jewish neighbours. It was from these same Jewish neighbours that they had heard that another Prophet was about to appear, and that his followers would prevail over the rest of the world.

It was partly because of this background that when the people of Madina heard about the Prophet, they readily turned towards him and embraced Islam in large numbers. They naturally expected that those who already followed Prophets and Divine Scriptures, and who, by introducing them to these ideas had contributed to their embracing the true faith, would not only join the ranks of the true believers, but would even be amongst their vanguard. As a result of these expectations the enthusiastic Muslim converts approached their Jewish friends and neighbours and invited them to embrace Islam. When the Jews flatly declined to do so, this negative reply was exploited by the hypocrites and other enemies of Islam as an argument for creating doubts about the truth of Islam.

If Muhammad was the true Prophet, they argued, how was it conceivable that the Jewish scholars and divines would deliberately turn away from him since, if he was a true Prophet, such a behaviour would be tantamount to ruining their After-life? Here the simple-hearted Muslims learn of the historical record of the Jews, a record which is replete with perversion and corruption. This was designed to make them realize that they ought not to expect too much of a people with so dark a past, for if they were not realistic in their expectations about them they would be utterly disappointed when their call failed to penetrate their hardened and stony hearts. Their chronic decadence had a history of several centuries. For a long time they had treated those verses of the Scriptures which made sincere believers tremble in awe as objects of jest and play. They had tailored religion to suit their base desires and it was around such a perverted view of religion that all their hopes of salvation were centred. It was futile to hope that such people would flock to the call of Truth the moment it was proclaimed.

87. 'A party of them' refers to the scholars and religious doctors of the Jewish community. The' Word of God' here signifies the Torah, the Psalms (Zabur) and other Scriptures which the Jews had received through the Prophets. 'Distortion' denotes the attempt to twist a text in such a manner as to make it signify something different from its real meaning, and may also denote tampering with the text of the Scriptures. The Israelite scholars had subjected the Scriptures to distortions of both kinds.

88. When the Jews talked among themselves they asked their co-religionists to disclose to the Muslims neither the prophesies about the Prophet, nor those verses of the Scriptures on the basis of which they could be reproached for their evil conduct; they thought that the Muslims would make use of scriptural arguments against them before God, and would thus have them pronounced guilty. These were the depths to which Jewish religious decadence had sunk. They were convinced that if they could succeed in concealing their guilt in this world, they would be saved from censure in the Next. For this reason they were asked if they considered God to be unaware of their deeds, either apparent or hidden.

89. This was the state of the Jewish masses. They were ignorant of the Scriptures, unaware of the principles of faith as enunciated by God in His Book, unaware of the rules of conduct that He had laid down, and of the teachings which are of fundamental importance for man's salvation. Because they lacked this knowledge, they fabricated a whole religion out of their desires and fancies, living in a paradise built on false hopes and illusions.

90. These observations relate to their rabbis. They were not content with misinterpreting the Word of God. They also interjected into it their readings of the Scriptures and their explanatory comments thereof, stories from their national history, superstitious ideas and fancies, philosophical doctrines and legal rules. The result was that the Divine and the human became inextricably mixed. They claimed, nevertheless, that the entire thing was divine! Every historical anecdote, the interpretation of every commentator, the doctrine of every theologian, and the legal deduction of every jurist that managed to find its way into the Bible became the 'Word of God'. It was thus obligatory to believe in all that, and every deviation from it became tantamount to deviation from the true faith.

91. This is a misconception entertained by all Jews, laymen as well as rabbis. They felt sure that no matter what they did, they would remain immune from hell-fire just by virtue of being Jews! The worst they could conceive of was the possibility of a transient punishment before they were transported to heaven.