Al-Baqarah Section 11: Rejection And The Murder Of The Apostles Of God
Isra’ilites’ rejection of the apostles of God and murdering them, Their lack of belief in Moses too, Demand to invoke death if they really believe in God and the hereafter.
Al-Baqarah Verses 87 - 96
وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَابَ وَقَفَّيْنَا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ بِالرُّسُلِ وَآتَيْنَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَيَّدْنَاهُ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ أَفَكُلَّمَا جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ بِمَا لَا تَهْوَىٰ أَنْفُسُكُمُ اسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ فَفَرِيقًا كَذَّبْتُمْ وَفَرِيقًا تَقْتُلُونَ
“And most certainly We gave Moses the scripture and We caused him to be succeeded with apostles; We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear evidence and aided him with the Holy Spirit. What! (and yet) whenever (thereafter) an apostle came unto you with that which your selves desired not, swelled ye with pride, some (of the apostles) ye belied (as imposters) and some ye slew” (2:87).
وَقَالُوا قُلُوبُنَا غُلْفٌ بَلْ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَقَلِيلًا مَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
“And they say, “Our hearts are covered” Nay! God hath cursed them for their disbelief; so little is that they believe” (2:88).
وَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ كِتَابٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَهُمْ وَكَانُوا مِنْ قَبْلُ يَسْتَفْتِحُونَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ مَا عَرَفُوا كَفَرُوا بِهِ فَلَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ
“And when there came unto them a Book from God confirming what is with them, although from before they had been praying for victory over those who disbelieved and when there came unto them that which they recognize (and yet) they disbelieved in it; Therefore, God’s curse is on the disbelievers” (2:89).
بِئْسَمَا اشْتَرَوْا بِهِ أَنْفُسَهُمْ أَنْ يَكْفُرُوا بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ بَغْيًا أَنْ يُنَزِّلَ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ عَلَىٰ مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ فَبَاءُوا بِغَضَبٍ عَلَىٰ غَضَبٍ وَلِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ
“Vile is it (the price) for which they have sold their souls that they deny the revelation from God, feeling offended and envy that God out of His Grace sendeth it to whomsoever of His servants He pleaseth. They have brought on themselves wrath upon wrath; And for the disbelievers there is the most disgracing punishment” (2:90)
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ آمِنُوا بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ قَالُوا نُؤْمِنُ بِمَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَيْنَا وَيَكْفُرُونَ بِمَا وَرَاءَهُ وَهُوَ الْحَقُّ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا مَعَهُمْ قُلْ فَلِمَ تَقْتُلُونَ أَنْبِيَاءَ اللَّهِ مِنْ قَبْلُ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ
“When it is said to them, “Believe in what God hath sent down,” they say, “We believe in that which was sent down unto us,” And they disbelieve in that which is besides (that) while it is the Truth confirming that which is with them; Say (unto them. O’ Our Apostle Muhammad), “Why then slew ye the apostles of God aforetime if ye did indeed believe?” (2:91).
وَلَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ مُوسَىٰ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ ثُمَّ اتَّخَذْتُمُ الْعِجْلَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وَأَنْتُمْ ظَالِمُونَ
“And verily Moses came unto you with clear evidences And yet after him (in his absence) ye took the calf (for your god) and ye did behave unjustly” (2:92).
وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَكُمْ وَرَفَعْنَا فَوْقَكُمُ الطُّورَ خُذُوا مَا آتَيْنَاكُمْ بِقُوَّةٍ وَاسْمَعُوا قَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا وَأُشْرِبُوا فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْعِجْلَ بِكُفْرِهِمْ قُلْ بِئْسَمَا يَأْمُرُكُمْ بِهِ إِيمَانُكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ
“And remember when we made a covenant with you and raised the ‘Tur’ above you (saying), “Hold fast by that which We have given you and hearken ye (Our Word) said they, “We have hearkened and disobeyed”; They were made to imbibe (deep) (the love of) the calf into their hearts for their wrong belief; Say (O’ Our Apostle Muhammad), “Vile is that which your belief bideth you if ye be (true) believers”“ (2:93).
قُلْ إِنْ كَانَتْ لَكُمُ الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ خَالِصَةً مِنْ دُونِ النَّاسِ فَتَمَنَّوُا الْمَوْتَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
“Say (O’ Our Apostle Muhammad), “if the (ultimate) abode with God in the hereafter be exclusively for you and not for others of mankind then invoke ye death (for you) if ye be truthful” (2:94).
وَلَنْ يَتَمَنَّوْهُ أَبَدًا بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّالِمِينَ
“But never will they invoke it because of that which their hands have sent forth before them! (But) Verily, God (well) knoweth the unjust” (2:95).
وَلَتَجِدَنَّهُمْ أَحْرَصَ النَّاسِ عَلَىٰ حَيَاةٍ وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا يَوَدُّ أَحَدُهُمْ لَوْ يُعَمَّرُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ وَمَا هُوَ بِمُزَحْزِحِهِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ أَنْ يُعَمَّرَ وَاللَّهُ بَصِيرٌ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ
“And thou wilt surely find them greediest of mankind for life, and of the idolaters, each one of them is covetous to live (even) a thousand years, and yet his living a long life will in no way remove him further off from the wrath verily God seeth what they do” (2:96).
Commentary
Verse 87
‘Ruh al-Qudus’ i.e. the Holy Spirit1. Though, according to 58:22, a spirit from God aids by guiding, revealing or inspiring even the virtuous one but the repeated mention about the ‘Ruhul Qudus’ or the Spirit Holy as it has been done, has its own significance. All that we know is that it is a spiritual entity of a very high order whose function is to guide, inspire and infuse prophetic spirit and confers any miraculous powers on the Holy Individual. A modern Commentator interprets ‘ruh’ meaning Revelation and not any spiritual entity. This interpretation is purposeful.
When a self-assumed Prophet and messiah did not have any spirit or angel to guide him and he has to base his claim to prophethood upon his own imagination, he wants to discredit every true apostle of God, from having any angelic service to his credit.
The Commentator tries to impress that ‘ruh’ means guidance or revelation which even every virtuous one is blessed with by God and it was only in this meaning the help was rendered to the Holy Prophet Jesus and nothing else exclusively peculiar to him. But the Commentator bypasses the significance given to this gifted assistance given to Jesus which is established as a clear distinction by the repeated mention of it. If it was a blessing which ordinarily every virtuous one gets, there cannot be any sense or any meaning in repeatedly mentioning it unless to impress the distinction conferred specially upon him.
‘Fafariqan Kazzabtum’ - Some ye belied - that they obstinately refused to believe in the apostles always as the true messengers from God. They believed in them formally but would not carry out their commands which were opposed to their personal selfish inclinations.
‘Wafareeqan taqtuloon’ i.e. and some ye murder the change of tense from the past to the present is to allude to the attempts they were busy making on the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
The conclusion of this verse explains the psychological background of the rebellious tendency against the divine covenant and those who were commissioned with it. It is the limited desires stirred in man by the inclination towards the worldly objects. (A.P.)
Verse 88
‘Ghulf’ - plural ‘Aghlaf’ meaning enclosed in a covering. Here meaning that the hearts are covered from hearing and understanding what the apostle of God says - But if Ghulf is taken as the plural of Ghilaf which means covering as well as repositories - The statement will mean the pride of the people to say that their hearts were already the repositories of knowledge and wisdom not needing any more knowledge or guidance from anybody else. The people are told that It is their unbelief and obstinacy that draws the ‘la’nat’ curse upon them from God.
Verse 89
The Jews who in their own vanity claimed to be superior to the other people who were mostly the gentiles should naturally have been the first to recognise and accept the Truth renewed by the Holy Prophet Muhammad for it was quite similar in form and language to what they already had with them. But they were possessed more of arrogance and pride than of faith. The want of faith in the truth draws the curse of God upon the people whoever they may be.
Old Testament:
Thy Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken;
According to all that thou desirest of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
And the Lord said unto me, They have well - spoken that which they have spoken.
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him - Deuteronomy. 18/15 - 19.
And it shall come to pass, if thou shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.
And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee if thou shall hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God - Deuteronomy. 28/1 and 2.
It is quite evident that the Jews waited for three different prophets see John 11/25. In John 1/ 23 the reference is to the Prophet Promised in Deuteronomy. 18/15 - 18. Acts 3/21 - 23 clearly declare that the Prophet Promised in Deuteronomy. 18/18 was still waited for, even after the departure of Jesus.
Verse 90
Refers to the Jews surrendering themselves to infidelity and disbelief in the Truth and their envy firstly against what God had sent down (i.e. Evangel) to the Holy Prophet Jesus and then again against the Holy Qur’an which had been sent down to the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
Verse 91
The Jews said that they believed in what had been revealed to them i.e. to the Isra’ilite prophets and they would not believe in anything revealed to non-Isra’ilite prophet (i.e. the Holy Prophet Muhammad). The reply to this arrogance is given in this verse saying that which has been sent down to the Holy Prophet Muhammad is truth verifying that which is in the Books with them, referring to the prophecy given out in Deuteronomy. 18/15 - 18.
Verse 93
Vide Verse 2:83. The Ahmadi Commentator quotes - Exod. 19/17 and desires that the mountain was not raised to be suspended over the heads of the Isra’ilites to frighten them to submission. He interprets the event into an earthquake. The arguments advanced by the Ahmadi Commentator are obviously just to establish a particular view point peculiar to the Ahmadi School and quite different from the rest of the world.
There is a great similarity which an intelligent student of the Holy Qur’an would find between Moses demanding from the Jews the oath of allegiance to the Covenant when they said: ‘We listen to it and did also disobey it, and the Holy Prophet Muhammad demanding the allegiance from the Muslims at ‘Ghadir Khumm’ which the Muslim did pay it and broke it. This is another example of the situation that the Holy Prophet had prophesied saying that his followers would follow the footsteps of the followers of the previous prophets particularly of Moses in revolting against the Covenant and the commands of God. (A.P.)
Verse 94
The belief of the Jews which had become a conviction with them was that they alone were the God’s specially chosen people and the abode of bliss in the hereafter was exclusively for them and for none else. This preposterous imagination and the similar other ideas made them reject the Holy Prophet in spite of the abundant evidence establishing and verifying the Apostleship of Muhammad as prophesied in Deuteronomy. 18/15-19. They claimed that no Prophet of God particularly the one foretold in Deuteronomy. 18/15-19 could ever be other than an Isra’ilite.
The object of this challenge is to invite them candidly to themselves judge about their own assertion. If they in fact rightly believe that they alone were God’s specially and exclusively favoured people, then they must naturally belonging to meet the end of their present life to enjoy the everlasting blissful life awaiting there exclusively for them in the hereafter.
Hence, they may wish death for themselves which need the genuine conviction which they were lacking. Or instead of planning and plotting to kill the Holy Prophet, they might, through their devotion desire for the death of the Holy Prophet. The word ‘Tamanna’ used in the verse speak of the eloquence of the language meaning that they need hot even take the trouble of praying for it but only desire as they are being the specially favoured and exclusively selected ones of God, in a matter so just and reasonable, even their mere wish would naturally and necessarily be responded to, though they may not even seek it through any special prayer.
The virtuous i.e. those who loved God always loved death i.e. to get away from this life and to enter the blissful life awaiting them in the hereafter. Every one of the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt was ever prepared for death and loved it. Ali when he received the stroke from Ibn - Muljim, on his head in the Mosque exclaimed ‘Fuztu - be - Rabil-Ka’ba.’ By the Lord of the Holy Ka’ba I have succeeded.
Verse 95
This verse emphatically declares that the Jews dare not wish for death, for they were sure that the claim of the Holy Prophet was unquestionably true, and they were conscious of their own misdeeds i.e. the corruption they had affected in their scriptures.
This is a challenge to the vanity of the Jews in particular and to the others in general, who think that the pleasures of the life hereafter are exclusively theirs2. The reason is obvious that anyone who is sure of a better life in the hereafter, and to be the favourite of God, would not like to prolong his earthly life. On the other hand, he would long to expedite his departure from here. The first Holy Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib gives the description of the genuine devotees or the lovers or the favourites of God, that they are so acquainted with the glorious heights of the blissful life in the hereafter that had not the term of their stay here been already fixed, their souls would not have stayed a moment in their bodies.
Actually, their bodies are here, and their souls are suspended in the glorious heights in heaven. Such ones would never be afraid of death and would never run away from it and would have no lust for any worldly gains. In one of his statements against those who assumed power after the Holy Prophet, Ali the first Holy Imam says:
“If I say something they would say that ‘it is due to his greed for power,’ and if I keep quiet, they would say ‘he is afraid of death’. Verily I swear by God that the son of Abu Talib is more familiar to death than a baby is to the breast of its mother”
This refutes both the accusations. A man familiar to death will naturally have no greed for any temporary worldly kingdom and will not be afraid of death or will not run away from it. But those attached to this world will naturally be afraid of death and will run away from it. Those whose faith and deeds secure them no hope for the hereafter, are naturally afraid of death and would be keen to remain here as long as possible. (A.P.)
Verse 96
It is observed even to this day that those who know not or those who do not in fact believe in the life in the hereafter viz., the Pantheists, and the Polytheists, they naturally covet to stay in this transient life as long as it may be allowed for them to do it. This is common to the Jews, the Christians and the other disbelievers.
