Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 2 Al-Baqarah, Ayat 97-103

قُلۡ مَنۡ كَانَ عَدُوًّا لِّجِبۡرِيۡلَ فَاِنَّهٗ نَزَّلَهٗ عَلٰى قَلۡبِكَ بِاِذۡنِ اللّٰهِ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيۡنَ يَدَيۡهِ وَهُدًى وَّبُشۡرٰى لِلۡمُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ‏  ﴿2:97﴾ مَنۡ كَانَ عَدُوًّا لِّلّٰهِ وَمَلٰٓـئِکَتِهٖ وَ رُسُلِهٖ وَجِبۡرِيۡلَ وَمِيۡكٰٮلَ فَاِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَدُوٌّ لِّلۡكٰفِرِيۡنَ‏ ﴿2:98﴾ وَلَقَدۡ اَنۡزَلۡنَآ اِلَيۡكَ اٰيٰتٍۢ بَيِّنٰتٍ​​ۚ وَمَا يَكۡفُرُ بِهَآ اِلَّا الۡفٰسِقُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:99﴾ اَوَکُلَّمَا عٰهَدُوۡا عَهۡدًا نَّبَذَهٗ فَرِيۡقٌ مِّنۡهُمۡ​ؕ بَلۡ اَكۡثَرُهُمۡ لَا يُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:100﴾ وَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمۡ رَسُوۡلٌ مِّنۡ عِنۡدِ اللّٰهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِّمَا مَعَهُمۡ نَبَذَ فَرِيۡقٌ مِّنَ الَّذِيۡنَ اُوۡتُوا الۡكِتٰبَۙ کِتٰبَ اللّٰهِ وَرَآءَ ظُهُوۡرِهِمۡ كَاَنَّهُمۡ لَا يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:101﴾ وَاتَّبَعُوۡا مَا تَتۡلُوا الشَّيٰطِيۡنُ عَلٰى مُلۡكِ سُلَيۡمٰنَ​​ۚ وَمَا کَفَرَ سُلَيۡمٰنُ وَلٰـكِنَّ الشَّيٰـطِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا يُعَلِّمُوۡنَ النَّاسَ السِّحۡرَ وَمَآ اُنۡزِلَ عَلَى الۡمَلَـکَيۡنِ بِبَابِلَ هَارُوۡتَ وَمَارُوۡتَ​ؕ وَمَا يُعَلِّمٰنِ مِنۡ اَحَدٍ حَتّٰى يَقُوۡلَاۤ اِنَّمَا نَحۡنُ فِتۡنَةٌ فَلَا تَكۡفُرۡؕ​ فَيَتَعَلَّمُوۡنَ مِنۡهُمَا مَا يُفَرِّقُوۡنَ بِهٖ بَيۡنَ الۡمَرۡءِ وَ زَوۡجِهٖ​ؕ وَمَا هُمۡ بِضَآرِّيۡنَ بِهٖ مِنۡ اَحَدٍ اِلَّا بِاِذۡنِ اللّٰهِ​ؕ وَيَتَعَلَّمُوۡنَ مَا يَضُرُّهُمۡ وَلَا يَنۡفَعُهُمۡ​ؕ وَلَقَدۡ عَلِمُوۡا لَمَنِ اشۡتَرٰٮهُ مَا لَهٗ فِى الۡاٰخِرَةِ مِنۡ خَلَاقٍ​ؕ وَلَبِئۡسَ مَا شَرَوۡا بِهٖۤ اَنۡفُسَهُمۡ​ؕ لَوۡ کَانُوۡا يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ‏  ﴿2:102﴾ وَلَوۡ اَنَّهُمۡ اٰمَنُوۡا وَاتَّقَوۡا لَمَثُوۡبَةٌ مِّنۡ عِنۡدِ اللّٰهِ خَيۡرٌ ؕ​ لَوۡ كَانُوۡا يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:103﴾

(2:97) Say: “Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel100 (should know that) he revealed this (Qur’an) to your heart by Allah’s101 leave: it confirms the Scriptures revealed before it,102 and is a guidance and good tiding to the people of faith.103 (2:98) (And if this is the cause of their hostility to Gabriel, let them know) whoever is an enemy to Allah, His Angels and His Messengers and to Gabriel and Michael will surely find Allah an enemy to such unbelievers.” (2:99) We surely sent down to you clear verses that elucidate the Truth, (verses) which only the transgressors reject as false. (2:100) Is it not that every time they made a covenant with Allah a party of them set it aside? The truth is that most of them do not truly believe. (2:101) And whenever a Messenger from Allah came to them, confirming what they already possessed, a party of those who had been given the Scripture flung the Book of Allah behind their backs as if they knew nothing, (2:102) and then followed what the evil ones falsely attributed to the Kingdom of Solomon104 even though Solomon had never disbelieved; it is the evil ones who disbelieved, teaching people magic. And they followed what had been revealed to the two angels in Babylon – Harut and Marut – although these two (angels) never taught it to anyone without first declaring: “We are merely a means of testing people; so, do not engage in unbelief.”105 And yet they learned from them what might cause division between a man and his wife106. They could not cause harm to anyone except by the leave of Allah, and still they learned what harmed rather than profited them, knowing well that he who bought it will have no share in the World to Come. Evil indeed is what they sold themselves for. Had they but known! (2:103) Had they believed and been God-fearing Allah’s reward would have been better! Had they but known!

Notes

100. The Jews not only reviled the Prophet (peace be on him) and his followers but also God's chosen angel, Gabriel, denouncing him as their enemy, and branding him as the angel of curse rather than of blessing.

101. Since Gabriel communicated the revealed messages with God's approval the abuses of the Jews which were apparently aimed at Gabriel should be considered as directed at God.

102. They abused Gabriel because he had brought the Qur'an from God, and since the Qur'an on the whole confirms the Torah this too became a co-sharer in those abuses.

103. Here there is a subtle suggestion that the wrath of the Jews was, in fact, directed against true guidance and righteousness even though acceptance of these would have brought them good tidings as to their own success.

104. 'Evil ones' embraces all evil beings, whether they belong to the human species or to the jinn. Here the reference seems to be to both.

When moral and material decline set in among the Israelites, they were overwhelmed with slavery and ignorance, with misery and poverty, and with humiliation and decadence. They were thus drained of all high ambitions and increasingly turned to magic, sorcery, witchcraft, charms and amulets. They began to search for facile means such as spells that would spare them hard work and yet ensure the achievement of their desired ends. At this stage they were misled by the evil ones, who made them believe that the mighty kingdom and astonishing power of Solomon were merely due to occult sciences and magical formulae, and that by revealing those they would pass on to them the keys to success. People were so engrossed in such practices that they ignored both the Book of God and anyone who summoned them to truth and righteousness.

105. There are various opinions on the interpretation of this verse. My own conclusion is that at the time when the whole Israelite nation was chained in slavery and captivity in Babylonia God sent two angels in human form in order to test the Jews. In the same way as angels were sent to the people of Lot in the form of handsome youths see (Quran 11: 69 ff. - Ed.), they were presumably sent to Israel in the form of divines who could work magic and sorcery. These angels at once began working their magical wonders but they warned the people that their presence among them was designed to test their faith, and that they ought not to jeopardize their After-life by the practice of magic. Despite the warning it seems that the Israelites had become so fond of their magical artifices that they continued to resort to talismans and sorcery.

It should not surprise anyone that angels came down to earth in human form; angels are dutiful servants of God's kingdom, and are capable of assuming the form appropriate to the specific task they are required to perform at any particular time. Who knows how many angels may be busy performing their duties in our midst even today!

One might also wonder why angels should teach people magic, which is after all intrinsically evil. In order to understand this we must remember that the nature of their task was no different from that of an undercover policeman who hands over marked currency notes to a corrupt official as a bribe with the aim of ensuring that he is caught red-handed.

106. This shows that the greatest demand was for magical arts and charms to sow discord between a man and his wife and to procure the eventual seduction of the latter. This was the depth of moral depravity to which these people had fallen. A people cannot sink to a lower level of moral degeneracy than when adulterous affairs become their favourite pastime, and when seducing a married woman is considered a boastful achievement. The matrimonial relationship is, in truth, the very foundation of man's collective life. The soundness of human civilization depends on the soundness of the relationship between the two sexes. Hence, nothing could be worse than the person who strikes at the very foundations of the structure which supports both him and society as a whole.

There is a Tradition from the Prophet to the effect that Satan sends his agents on their missions to all parts of the world. On their return these agents report their achievements with each mentioning his own special evil act. But Satan is not completely satisfied with any of them. It is only when an agent reports that he has succeeded in separating a wife from her husband that Satan is filled with joy and embraces him. (Bukhari, 'Talaq', 25 - Ed.) In the light of this Tradition it is understandable why the angels who were sent to the Israelites to test them were asked to disclose those magical arts which would lead to separation between a husband and his wife, for the inclination of a people to learn such arts is a sure index of its moral decadence.