122. Most scholars identify this place with Eilat, Eilath or Eloth. (Cf.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, XV edition, 'Macropaedia', vol. 3, art. 'Elat' -Ed.)
The seaport called Elat which has been built by the present state of Israel
(which is close to the Jordanian seaport, Aqaba), stands on the same site. It
lies at the end of that long inlet of the Red Sea situated between the eastern
part of the Sinai peninsula and the western part of Arabia. It was a major trading
centre in the time of Israelite ascendancy. The Prophet Solomon took this city
as the chief port for his fleet in the Red Sea.
The event referred to in the above verse is not reported in Jewish Scriptures.
Nor do historical accounts shed any light on it. Nonetheless, it appears from
the way it has been mentioned in the above verse and in al-Baqarah that the
Jews of the early days of Islam were quite familiar with the event. (See Towards
Understanding the Qur'an, vol. 1,
(al-Baqarah 2: 65 and n.83, pp. 81-2 - Ed)).
This view is further corroborated by the fact that even the Madinan Jews who
spared no opportunity to criticize the Prophet (peace be on him) did not raise
any objection against this (Qur'anic account.
123. 'Sabbath', which means Saturday, was declared for the Israelites as the holi day of the week. God declared the Sabbath as a sign of the perpetual covenant between God and Israel. (Exodus 31: 12-16.) The Israelites were required to strictly keep the Sabbath which meant that they may not engage in any worldly activity; they may not cook, nor make their slaves or cattle serve them. Those who violated these rules were to be put to death. The Israelites, however, publicly violated these rules. In the days of the Prophet Jeremiah (between 628 and 586 B.C.), the Israelites carried their merchandise through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day itself. Jeremiah, therefore, warned them that if they persisted in their flagrant violation of the Law, Jerusalem would be set on fire. (Jererniah 17: 21-7.) The same complaint is voiced in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (595-536 B.C.) who referred to their violation of the Sabbath rules as their major sin. (Ezekiel 20: 12-24.) In view of these Scriptural references it seems plausible that the event mentioned in the above Qur'anic verse is related to the same period.
124. Men are tested by God in a variety of ways. When a person or group of people begin to turn away from God and incline themselves towards disobedience, God provides abundant opportunities for them to disobey. This is done in order that the full potential for disobedience, which had remained hidden because of lack of such an opportunity, might come to the surface.
125. This shows that the people in that town were of three categories. One,
those who flagrantly violated God's commands. Two, those who were silent spectators
to such violations and discouraged those who admonished the criminals, pleading
that their efforts were fruitless. Three, those who, moved by their religious
commitment, actively enjoined good and forbade evil so that the evil-doers might
make amends. In so doing, they were prompted by, a sense of duty, to bring back
the evil-doers to the right path, and if the latter did not respond to their
call, they would at least be able to establish before their Lord that for their
part they had fulfilled their duty to admonish the evil-doers. So, when the
town was struck by God's punishment, only the people belonging to the last category
were spared for they had displayed God-consciousness and performed the duties
incumbent upon them. As for the people of the other two categories, they were
reckoned as transgressors and were punished in proportion to their crimes.
Some commentators on the Qur'an are of the opinion that whereas the Qur'an specifically,
describes the fate of the people belonging to the first and third categories,
it is silent about the treatment meted out to the people of the second category.
It cannot be said, therefore, with certainty, whether they were spared or punished.
It is reported that Ibn 'Abba's initially believed that God's punishment included
the second category as well. It is believed that later his disciple Ikramah
convinced him that only the people of the second category would be delivered
in the same manner as the people of the third category.
A closer study of the Qur'anic account, however, shows that Ibn 'Abba's earlier
viewpoint is sound. It is evident that the people of the town would inevitably
have been grouped into two categories on the eve of God's punishment: those
who were spared and those who were not. Since the Qur'an states that the people
of the third category, had been spared, it may be legitimately assumed that
the people belonging to both the first and the second categories were punished.
This view is also corroborated by the preceding verse:
Also recall when a party of them said: 'Why do you admonish a people whom Allah
is about to destroy or punish severely? They said: 'We admonish them in order
to he able to offer an excuse before your Lord, and in the hope that they will
guard against disobedience.' (Verse 164).
Thus it clearly emerges from the above discussion that all the people of the
place where evil deeds are publicly committed stand guilty, One cannot be absolved
merely on the basis that one had not committed any evil. One may be acquitted
only, in the event that one made every possible effort to bring about reform
and actively worked in the cause of the truth. This constitutes the divine law
pertaining to collective evil as is evident from the teachings of the Qur'an
and Hadith. The Qur'an says:
And guard against the mischief that will not only bring punishment to the wrong-doers
among you. Know well that Allah is severe in punishment (Al-Anfal 8: 15).
Explaining the above verse the Prophet (peace be on him) remarked: 'God does
not punish the generality of a people for the evil committed by a particular
section of that people until they observe others committing evil and do not
denounce it even though they are in a position to do so. And when they do that,
God punishes all, the evil-doers and the people in general.' (Ahmad b. Hanbal.
Musnad, vol. 4, p. 192 - Ed.)
Moreover. the verse in question seems to suggest that God's punishment afflicted
the town concerned in two stages. The first stage is referred to as 'grevious
chastisement', for in the next stage they were turned into apes. We may, therefore,
hold that people belonging to both the first and the second categories were
subjected to punishment. But the punishment of transforming the persistent evil-doers
into apes was confined only to the people of the second category. (God knows
best. If I am right that is from God. If I err, that is from me alone. God is
All-Forgiving, All-Merciful.)
126. For details see Towards Understanding the Q ur'an, vol. 1, (al-Baqarah 2: n. 83, pp. 81-2),