Surah al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2 : 26

Overview (Verses 26 - 27)

The Use of Parables in the Qur’ān

At this point the sūrah speaks of the Qur’ānic use of parables: “God does not disdain to give a parable of a gnat, or a higher creature. Those who believe know that it is the truth from their Lord, while the unbelievers ask, ‘What could God mean by such a parable?’ In this way, God lets many go astray and gives guidance to many others, but none does He leave to go astray except the evildoers, who violate God’s covenant after having accepted it, and cut asunder what He has ordered to be joined, and spread corruption in the land. They are the losers.” (Verses 26-27)

Earlier in the sūrah, the hypocrites were shown in derogatory situations. They also realized that the Qur’ān uses parables referring to insignificant creatures. One of these compares unbelievers to spiders: “Those who take beings other than God for their protectors are like a spider which makes for itself a house. The frailest of all houses is the spider’s house. Could they only understand.” (29: 41) Similarly the Qur’ān cites a parable showing the powerlessness of their false deities: “Mankind/ An aphorism is set forth; hearken, then, to it. Those beings whom you invoke instead of God cannot create a fly, even though they were to join all their forces to that end. If a fly robs them of anything, they cannot rescue it from him! Weak indeed is the seeker, and weak the sought!” (22: 73)

This passage suggests that the hypocrites in Madinah, and probably the Jews and the polytheists, were, in their clumsy and confused campaign against Islam, trying to exploit such use of parables to raise doubts about the Qur’ān’s divine origins, claiming that God would not speak about such insignificant creatures as spiders and flies. They thus hoped to undermine the authority and authenticity of the Qur’ān.

These verses serve to refute that argument and explain the wisdom underlying the use of such parables, while warning unbelievers against taking up such a line of argument and reassuring believers that they will strengthen their faith.

“God does not disdain to give a parable of a gnat, or a higher creature.” (Verse 26) God is the Lord of all creatures, big and small. Every single creature, regardless of shape or size, is a marvel to behold, embodying the greatest secret of life, which is known only to God. Besides, parables are used to explain and illustrate concepts and ideas, and the size or shape of their subjects is irrelevant; in no case should they be slighted or scoffed at. Moreover, God, in His infinite wisdom, makes use of such parables to assess and test people’s faith. “Those who believe know that it is the truth from their Lord...” (Verse 26)

Since they believe in God, they accept what He sends with the reverence that is due to Him and with respect for His wisdom, which they do not question. The faith He bestowed upon them enlightens believers’ hearts, enhances their spirits, opens their minds, brings them closer to God and makes them more sensitive and receptive to what they receive from Him.

“While the unbelievers ask, ‘What could God mean by such a parable?’” (Verse 26) Apart from being an impertinent and inappropriate question, this reveals the unbelievers’ ignorance and their exclusion from God’s light and guidance. They have no reverence for God and no trust in His revelations.

Accordingly, the answer comes in the form of a swift warning: “In this way, God lets many go astray and gives guidance to many others, but none does He leave to go astray except the evildoers.” (Verse 26)

God tests people in various ways and with varying degrees of difficulty and rigour, but the effect is not the same. Ordeals and tribulations can only bring a believer much closer to God and enhance his God-fearing sense and his submission to Him, while they will shake and confound an unbeliever or a hypocrite. It is the same with prosperity and good fortune. A believer will become more conscious of, and thankful to God, while an unbeliever or a hypocrite will grow more arrogant, inconsiderate and irresponsible.

Thus parables are used by God to test people’s faith, so that “In this way, God lets many go astray and gives guidance to many others, but none does He leave to go astray except the evildoers.” (Verse 26) In consequence of their attitudes and actions, the evildoers are given even more freedom to pursue the route they have chosen for themselves.

God’s Covenant with Man

We have not completely departed from the subject of the beginning of the sūrah: the presentation of the main types of people found in every human society. So the text turns to speak in more detail of the “evildoers”. They are those “who violate God’s covenant after having accepted it, and cut asunder what He has ordered to be joined, and spread corruption in the land. They are the losers.” (Verse 27)

The text speaks in very general terms, without specifying the ‘covenant’ or the thing they cut asunder, or the type of ‘corruption’ they spread. Priority is given to defining the overall profile of this type of people rather than recording any particular incidents or examples. They have lost God’s trust, severed all the ties He commanded to be maintained, and they are capable of perpetrating every kind of corruption or evil. These are people condemned to confusion and loss of guidance; their basic human nature has been corrupted and perverted. They are like a prematurely picked fruit that has rotted and withered away. Their minds and outlook on life are totally distorted, so that whatever gives believers guidance and direction only confounds them and sends them further towards ruin and damnation.

Here, we may care to reflect briefly on the destructive effect of the activities of this type of people, as represented by the Jews, the hypocrites and the idolaters, on the young Muslim community of Madinah; and on subsequent Muslim societies everywhere, although under different guises and names.

Those “who violate God’s covenant after having accepted it”. (Verse 27) The ‘covenant’ is in fact several covenants, the fundamental one being man’s obligation to acknowledge his Creator and turn to Him in worship and submission. Belief in God is a basic human need that must be fulfilled; but it can be abused and misdirected, so that a person sets up partners or equals to God and turns to them.

There is the covenant made with Adam on behalf of all mankind, establishing man’s role on earth and defining his rights and obligations, as we shall discuss presently.

There are numerous covenants and agreements, conveyed through Prophets and Messengers at different stages of human history, with various communities and human groups, committing them to the belief in the One God and implementation in their daily life of His laws and teachings. Evildoers, throughout history, have violated these covenants, and once they renege on their basic and fundamental obligations towards God, there is nothing to deter them from violating laws and norms of every kind, thereby wreaking havoc and destruction on all forms of life.

“And cut asunder what He has ordered to be joined.” (Verse 27) Such ties are also numerous, and include family ties between kindred and relations as well as humanitarian ties within the larger human family. First and foremost, God has enjoined the maintenance of man’s relationship with God and his fellow believers, which underpins all other ties and relationships. When these ties are broken or dissolved, societies fall apart and chaos and corruption run rampant.

“And [they] spread corruption in the land”. (Verse 27) This corruption also takes numerous forms and manifestations, but it stems from one major evil: deviation from God’s word and violation of His covenant, severing the ties and relations He has commanded to be maintained. The root of all evil and corruption on earth is deviation from God’s laws which He has laid down for the conduct and organization of human life. This is a departure that will surely lead to ruin and destruction.

Human life cannot be built on sound and healthy foundations as long as God’s laws, commands and teachings are discarded or ignored or given second place. Once this vital bond between God and man is broken, human and natural destruction becomes inevitable. Therefore, those who advocate such deviation from God’s path and perpetrate corruption and ungodliness deserve to be left to stray and to be utterly confounded. Their confusion is caused by the same thing that provides guidance to those who are God-fearing.