Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 5 Al-Ma'idah, Ayat 20-26

وَاِذۡ قَالَ مُوۡسٰى لِقَوۡمِهٖ يٰقَوۡمِ اذۡكُرُوۡا نِعۡمَةَ اللّٰهِ عَلَيۡكُمۡ اِذۡ جَعَلَ فِيۡكُمۡ اَنۡۢـبِيَآءَ وَجَعَلَـكُمۡ مُّلُوۡكًا  ۖ  وَّاٰتٰٮكُمۡ مَّا لَمۡ يُؤۡتِ اَحَدًا مِّنَ الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَ‏ ﴿5:20﴾ يٰقَوۡمِ ادۡخُلُوا الۡاَرۡضَ الۡمُقَدَّسَةَ الَّتِىۡ كَتَبَ اللّٰهُ لَـكُمۡ وَلَا تَرۡتَدُّوۡا عَلٰٓى اَدۡبَارِكُمۡ فَتَـنۡقَلِبُوۡا خٰسِرِيۡنَ‏ ﴿5:21﴾ قَالُوۡا يٰمُوۡسٰٓى اِنَّ فِيۡهَا قَوۡمًا جَبَّارِيۡنَ ​ۖ  وَاِنَّا لَنۡ نَّدۡخُلَهَا حَتّٰى يَخۡرُجُوۡا مِنۡهَا​ ۚ فَاِنۡ يَّخۡرُجُوۡا مِنۡهَا فَاِنَّا دَاخِلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿5:22﴾ قَالَ رَجُلٰنِ مِنَ الَّذِيۡنَ يَخَافُوۡنَ اَنۡعَمَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيۡهِمَا ادۡخُلُوۡا عَلَيۡهِمُ الۡبَابَ​ۚ فَاِذَا دَخَلۡتُمُوۡهُ فَاِنَّكُمۡ غٰلِبُوۡنَ​  ​ۚ وَعَلَى اللّٰهِ فَتَوَكَّلُوۡۤا اِنۡ كُنۡتُمۡ مُّؤۡمِنِيۡنَ‏ ﴿5:23﴾ قَالُوۡا يٰمُوۡسٰٓى اِنَّا لَنۡ نَّدۡخُلَهَاۤ اَبَدًا مَّا دَامُوۡا فِيۡهَا​ فَاذۡهَبۡ اَنۡتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِلَاۤ اِنَّا هٰهُنَا قَاعِدُوۡنَ‏ ﴿5:24﴾ قَالَ رَبِّ اِنِّىۡ لَاۤ اَمۡلِكُ اِلَّا نَفۡسِىۡ وَاَخِىۡ​ فَافۡرُقۡ بَيۡنَـنَا وَبَيۡنَ الۡـقَوۡمِ الۡفٰسِقِيۡنَ‏ ﴿5:25﴾ ​قَالَ فَاِنَّهَا مُحَرَّمَةٌ عَلَيۡهِمۡ​ اَرۡبَعِيۡنَ سَنَةً​​  ۚ يَتِيۡهُوۡنَ فِى الۡاَرۡضِ​ ؕ فَلَا تَاۡسَ عَلَى الۡقَوۡمِ الۡفٰسِقِيۡنَ‏ ﴿5:26﴾

(5:20) Remember when Moses said to his people: 'My people, remember Allah's favour upon you when He raised Prophets amongst you and appointed you rulers, and granted to you what He had not granted to anyone else in the world.42 (5:21) My people! Enter the holy land which Allah has ordained for you;43 and do not turn back for then you will turn about losers.44 (5:22) They answered: 'Moses, therein live a ferocious people: we will not enter unless they depart from it; but if they do depart from it then we will surely enter it.' (5:23) Two from among these who were frightened but upon whom Allah had bes-towed His favour45 said: 'Enter upon them through the gate - for if you do enter - you will be the victors. And put your trust in Allah if indeed you are men of faith.' (5:24) Nevertheless they said: 'O Moses! Never shall we enter it as long as they are there. Go forth, then, you and your Lord, and fight, both of you. As for us, we will sit here.' (5:25) Thereupon Moses said: 'My Lord! I have control over none but my own self and my brother; so distinguish between us and the transgressing people.' (5:26) Allah said: 'This land will now be forbidden to them for forty years and they will remain wandering about on the earth.46 Do not grieve over the condition of these transgressing people.47

Notes

42. This refers to the glory the Israelites enjoyed before the time of Moses. There had appeared among them such great Prophets as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. Moreover, from the time of Joseph they were able to achieve very considerable power and authority in Egypt. For a considerable period they were the greatest rulers of the civilized world, reigning supreme in Egypt and the surrounding territories. People are generally inclined to regard the time of Moses as the starting point for the rise of the Israelites. The Qur'an, however, states categorically that the truly glorious period of their history had passed long before Moses, and that Moses himself drew the attention of his people to that period as their time of glory.

43. This signifies Palestine which had been the homeland of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. After their exodus from Egypt, God ordered the Israelites to go forth to Egypt and conquer it.

44. This statement of Moses refers to the second year after they had come out of Egypt when he and his people lived in tents in the wilderness of Paran. This desert lies in the Sinai peninsula adjacent to the northern borders of Arabia and the southern borders of Palestine.

45. This could have two meanings: either that two of those who feared the high-handed people of the Promised Land made that statement or that two of those who feared God did so. (However, most Qur'anic commentators subscribe to the latter meaning - Ed.)

46. The details of this incident are found in the Bible in Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua. The essence of the story is that Moses sent twelve heads of Israel to spy out Palestine. They returned after forty days and said: 'We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey. Yet the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there . . . and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim); and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.' Then all the congregation cried out: 'Would that we had died in the land of Egypt; or would that we had died in this wilderness; why does the Lord bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?' At this they were censured for cowardice by two of the twelve heads who had spied out Palestine, Joshua and Caleb. Caleb suggested that they should go and seize Palestine. Then both of them said: 'If the Lord delights in us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land ... for the Lord is with us; do not fear them' (Numbers 14: 1-9). But the congregation responded to this by crying out that both ought to be stoned. This so provoked the wrath of God that He commanded that their bodies would fall dead in the wilderness and that of all their numbers numbered from twenty years old and upward, who had murmured against Him, none would come into the promised land except Caleb and Joshua; that only after an entire generation had passed away and a new generation had sprung up would they be enabled to conquer Palestine. Because of this divine decree, it took the people of Israel thirty-eight years to reach Transjordan from Paran. During this period all those who had left Egypt in their youth had perished. After the conquest of Transjordan Moses died (Ibid., 14: 10 ff.).

WANDERINGS OF THE ISRAELITES IN THE SINAI PENINSULA

The Prophet Moses (peace be on him) led the Israelites out of Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai by way of Marah, Elim and Rephaim in the Sinai Peninsula. Here he stayed for a little over a year and received most of the Commandments of the Torah. Then he was commanded to lead the Israelites towards Palestine and conquer it, for that land was to be given to them as an inheritance. So, he led them through Taberah and Nazareth and came to the desert of Paran from where he despatched a deputation of prominent Israelites to spy out Palestine. The deputation returned after forty days and made their report at Kadesh. Except for the encouraging picture presented by Joshua and Caleb, the report made by the other members was so disappointing that the Israelites cried out in disgust and refused to march on to Palestine. Thereupon God decreed that they would wander for forty years in the wilderness and none of their older generation except Joshua and Caleb would see Palestine. Thus, the Israelites wandered homeless in the wilderness of Paran, Shur and Zin, fighting and struggling against the Amalekites, the Amorites, the Edomites, the Midianites and the Moabites. When the forty years was about to end, the Prophet Aaron (peace be on him) died in Mount Hor, near the border of Edom. At about this time the Prophet Moses (peace be on him) entered Moab at the head of the Israelites, conquered the whole area and reached Heshbon and Shittim. After him Joshua, his first successor, crossed the River Jordan from the east and captured Jericho, the first Palestinian city to fall to the Israelites. Later on the whole of Palestine was conquered by them within a short period.

Ailah (present-day Aqaba) on this map is the place where probably the well-known incident of the Sabbath-breakers, as mentioned in (Surah al-Baqarah 2: 65) and (Surah al-A'raf 7: 166), took place.

Later on during the caliphate (sic) of Joshua the Israelites became capable of conquering Palestine.

In view of the fact that the followers of all the Prophets are Muslims, the author has used a peculiarly Islamic term - caliphate, rather than kingship, etc. - to signify the predominantly religious (or shall we say, Islamic) quality of his rule and to distinguish it from systems of government not animated by the religious spirit - Ed.

47. The purpose of referring to this event becomes clear if we reflect upon the context. It seems to be to bring home to the Israelites that the punishment to which they would be subjected if they adopted a rebellious attitude towards Muhammad (peace be on him) would be even more severe than the .one to which they had been subjected in the time of Moses.