Surah al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2 : 40

Overview (Verses 40 - 46)

At this point, the sūrah begins its address to the Children of Israel, represented by the Jews of Madinah, who posed the stiffest opposition to the Islamic message the moment it arrived there. They launched a relentless campaign of overt and covert resistance as soon as they realized that it had come to stay and to take control of the city and its population. They felt that Islam was bound to deprive them of the moral and economic hegemony they had so far enjoyed. Slowly, Islam began to heal the rifts that had existed between Madinah’s two main rival Arab tribes, the Aws and the Khazraj, thus ending the disputes that the Jews had been able to exploit. At the same time it provided Madinah with an independent code of conduct, based on the Qur’ān.

The war the Jews began to wage against Islam and Muslims in those early days has raged on to the present day. The form and appearance may have changed, but the nature and means remain the same. This is in spite of the fact that the Jews, who have been widely persecuted throughout their history, have always been welcomed and accommodated by Muslim communities. Indeed, Muslim communities have no history of religious or racial intolerance, discrimination or persecution. They are known to welcome peaceful outsiders who have no intention to undermine Islam or harm its people.

It was thought that the Jews of Madinah would be the first to welcome Islam and embrace the new religion and its advocate, the Prophet Muĥammad. The Qur’ān had already given a general endorsement to the Torah; while the Jews had been bidden by their own Scriptures to await the emergence of a new Messenger, whom their own prophets had described. In fact, they had been boasting about his impending arrival to the pagan Arabs.

This section of the sūrah constitutes the opening chapter in a wide- ranging campaign aimed at exposing the scheming and hostile stance of the Jews towards Islam. This counter-attack, however, was launched only after all means of persuasion to get them to accept Islam and join its ranks had been used without success.

The passage opens with a majestic call to the Israelites, reminding them of God’s grace and inviting them to fulfil their part of the covenant with God so that He will fulfil His. It calls on them to be fearful of God and submit to Him, as a prelude to appealing to them to accept the new revelations. It then goes on to condemn them for being among the first to reject it. It censures their deliberate confusion of truth with falsehood and their efforts to obfuscate and conceal the truth contained in their Scriptures. It denounces their attempts to mislead others, particularly those who had recently embraced the new religion, and to foment conflict and strife in the burgeoning Muslim community. It invites them to join the ranks of the believers, observe prayers, and pay their religious dues. Through perseverance and prayer, they seek to overcome their intransigence and arrogance that have prevented them from acknowledging and embracing the new religion. It denounces their two-faced attitude of calling on the Arab idolaters to believe in God while they themselves refuse to accept Islam.

The sūrah goes on to recall for the Jews the long list of favours God had bestowed on them all through their long history. In its unique style, the Qur’ān addresses the Jewish contemporaries of Muĥammad as if they were the contemporaries of Moses who lived centuries earlier, and treats them as one and the same community. Indeed, their attitude and behaviour have been remarkably the same through the ages.

The Qur’ān also reminds them of the horrors of Resurrection Day, when every soul has to defend itself, no intercession or ransom shall be accepted, and no one shall save them from God’s wrath and punishment.

It recalls in vivid detail their ancestors’ confrontation with, and subsequent escape from, Egypt’s Pharaoh, and all the favours God blessed them with afterwards. It reminds them of their lack of gratitude, their relapses and frequent deviations, and their insistence on committing the same errors again and again. It stresses their stubbornness, deviousness, lack of resolve, inability to shoulder responsibility, dishonesty and unfaithfulness to their covenants with God and their own Prophets, some of whom they even killed. They defied God and rejected His messages, worshipped the golden calf, made impossible demands on their prophets and violated almost every commandment they received from God.

The Jews, according to the Qur’ān, have done all this while insisting that they are the only rightly-guided nation in the world and the exclusive recipients of God’s guidance and blessings, and arguing that their religion is the only true one. However, as we shall see in the following pages, the Qur’ān refutes this claim and declares that all believers in God who adhere to His commands shall receive their deserved reward and shall have nothing to fear or regret.

This campaign to uncover the destructive machinations of the Jews was unavoidable for two main reasons. First, it was essential to demolish their arguments, expose their intrigues and reveal their true intentions towards Islam and the Muslims. This would make Muslims fully aware of what was being done behind their backs to undermine the foundations of their fledgling community.

Second, it was necessary as a warning to the Muslims themselves to avoid the pitfalls into which earlier recipients of God’s message, had fallen. As a result, such communities were stripped of the honour of having custody of the divine message and of the leadership of mankind. A number of specific instructions to this effect, some implicit and some explicit, can be found throughout the present passage.

There is no doubt that the Muslim community in Madinah at the time, and Muslims in subsequent generations, are in need of such warnings and admonitions. Muslims always need to study the Qur’ān very closely in order to discern and understand the divine instructions that will help them fight their habitual enemies, and to find out how to combat their insidious scheming.

Without God’s guidance and the light of faith, human beings can never recognize all the perils or fathom the wickedness of their enemies.

We can see very clearly here how, in the unique Qur’ānic style, the story of the Jews dovetails with that of Adam and Eve. This reflects an aspect of the integrity and the complementary nature of the topics with the context in which they are presented.

If we go back a little we find that the sūrah had established that God created everything on earth for the benefit of man. It then went on to relate how Adam, father of the human race, was given a covenant as God’s vicegerent on earth, how he was honoured by the angels falling prostrate before him, the brief he received from God, how he overlooked it, regretted his error and repented. We have also been told how he was forgiven and provided with divine guidance to ensure his success in this life. We have seen how that experience was in fact the prelude to the continuous conflict that was to take place on earth between the forces of evil and destruction, represented by Iblīs, and the forces of goodness and construction, represented by God-fearing man.

This is followed by an account of the history of the Israelites which records their covenant with God and how they violated it, as well as the favours God had bestowed on them and their ingratitude. As a result God withdrew His trust from them, allowing them to live in humiliation. The account warns Muslims against the evil designs of the Israelites and against following their example.

There is a clear link between the assignment of Adam as God’s vicegerent on earth and the choice of the Israelites as custodians of God’s message. The subject matter and the message flow in total harmony with the style employed.

The Qur’ān is not concerned with the chronology of the history of the Israelites. It is only recalling certain events or actions in as much or as little detail as is appropriate. Various other episodes of the story of the Israelites are related in other sūrahs, revealed earlier in Makkah, but for a different purpose. The aim there was to inspire and reassure that small group of the early Muslims in Makkah, and show them how to cope with their situation and learn from the strong faith and courage of earlier believers.

In the present context, however, the aim is to expose the real intentions and plans of the Jews, to describe their methods, and to warn the Muslim community about their scheming, as well as against repeating their mistakes. The difference between the Makkan and Madinan styles of the Qur’ān, which will become clear later when we study the Makkan sūrahs, is reflected in the emphasis and the presentation of the same topics.

On reviewing the passages where the story of the Israelites occurs in the Qur’ān, one finds that the details fit perfectly into the context to reinforce the argument or the point that is being made. It is also the case in this instance, as already explained.

The story of the Israelites is the one most frequently mentioned in the Qur’ān. The special care and attention with which it is told is indicative of God’s great wisdom in the way He deals with the Muslim community and how He prepares it to assume the all important task of the leadership of mankind.

God’s Covenant with the Israelites

Children of Israel! Remember My favour which I have bestowed on you. Fulfil your covenant with Me and I will fulfil Mine with you; and of Me alone stand in awe. Believe in what I have revealed, confirming that which you already have, and be not the first to reject it. Do not barter away My revelations for a paltry price, and fear Me alone. Do not overlay the truth with falsehood, nor knowingly suppress the truth. Attend regularly to your prayers, pay your zakāt, and bow down in prayers with those who bow down. How can you bid others to be righteous and forget yourselves, even when you read the Scriptures? Do you not understand? Seek strength in patient perseverance and in prayer, which is indeed a demanding task except for the devout, who know that they shall meet their Lord and to Him they shall ultimately return. (Verses 40-46)

Any review of Jewish history would immediately fill one with amazement at the host of favours and blessings God has bestowed on these people. Nor could one fail to be amazed at how persistently they have shown total ingratitude in return. In this opening announcement, God makes a general reference to those special favours before going on to speak about some of them in greater detail. As He does so, God again calls on the Israelites to fulfil their pledges and the commitments they made to Him. If they do, He will bless them with more favour and grace.

What is this covenant? Is it the original one made with Adam: “Guidance shall reach you from Me. Those who follow My guidance shall have nothing to fear nor shall they grieve, but those who deny and gainsay Our revelations shall have the fire, wherein they shall abide.” (Verses 38-39) Or, is it the universal covenant made between God and human nature, which binds man to seek the Lord and worship Him alone, associating no partners with Him? The latter needs no qualification or justification, as man perceives it instinctively and naturally, as long as his basic nature is free of capricious and deviant influences. Or does the verse refer to the covenant made with Abraham, the patriarch of Israel: “When his Lord tested Abraham with certain commandments and he fulfilled them, He said, ‘I have appointed you a leader of mankind.’ Abraham asked, And what of my descendants?’ God said, ‘My covenant does not apply to the wrongdoers.’” (Verse 124) Is it, on the other hand, the covenant made with the Israelites on Mount Sinai, when the mountain was raised over their heads? They were ordered then to take it up with strength and dedication, as will be later explained.

In fact, all these are essentially one covenant. Their essence is man’s total submission to God and adherence to the one true faith He sent to humanity through His messengers, in a long and honourable procession throughout history.

In fulfilment of this covenant, God calls on the Israelites to fear Him alone, and to believe in and accept what He has revealed to His Messenger, Muĥammad, confirming and endorsing their own Scriptures. They are urged not to hasten into rejecting it but to be among the first to believe in it: “Believe in what I have revealed, confirming that which you already have, and be not the first to reject it.” (Verse 41)

Islam, as propounded by Prophet Muĥammad, was no more than God’s one eternal religion given its final form. It is a continuation of the same message and the complement of the covenant God made with man in the beginning. It embraces past revelations and provides guidance for mankind in future generations. It brings together the Torah of the Old Testament and the Gospel of the New Testament, and adds what is required to lead mankind to further prosperity, unity and progress. Its aim has been to achieve the true brotherhood of man, eliminate racial and ethnic divisions and discrimination, and unite humanity in its submission to God under the covenant with Him.

God warns the Israelites against rejecting His final message in pursuit of temporal gain or narrow interests, such as the privileges and the status enjoyed by the rabbis through their religious function in the community: “Do not barter away My revelations for a paltry price, and fear Me alone.” (Verse 41)

Money, wealth and worldly aggrandizement have been the delight of the Jews since their early days. This verse could be referring to the fees and taxes imposed on ordinary Jews by their rabbis and clerics in return for religious services. These people were known, as stated elsewhere in the Qur’ān, to have had a monopoly on the interpretation of the Scriptures which enabled them to issue biased and tendentious rulings favouring the rich and powerful. To maintain this monopoly, Jewish elders and religious leaders would be inclined to urge their people to reject Islam and refuse to recognize it.

Commenting on this verse, some companions of the Prophet and later scholars have pointed out that when compared to belief in God’s revelations and the promised rewards of the hereafter, the world and all its treasures are worthless.

The sūrah goes on to censure the Israelites for deliberately confusing truth with falsehood in order to create confusion, doubt and discord among the Muslims. “Do not overlay the truth with falsehood, nor knowingly suppress the truth.” (Verse 42)

The Qur’ān abounds with reports of how the Jews of Madinah would seize every opportunity to antagonize its Muslims, create distractions and spread false ideas and malicious rumours among them. They had a notorious reputation, as we shall see, for causing division and making mischief within the Muslim community.

The sūrah then invites the Israelites to join the Muslims in their religious practices, and abandon their prejudices and ethnocentric tendencies. “Attend regularly to your prayers, pay your zakāt, and bow down in prayer with those who bow down.” (Verse 43)

Matching Words with Deeds

The sūrah refutes their pretence, particularly that of their elders and rabbis, of piety and godliness which they claim simply on the basis of having received divine revelations. The fact is that they continued to reject the new revelations which confirm their own. The sūrah asks them disapprovingly: “How can you bid others to be righteous and forget yourselves, even when you read the Scriptures? Do you not understand?” (Verse 44)

This may well have been directed at the Jews of Madinah on some specific occasions, but it applies to all believers and religious leaders of all groups and generations.

When religious teaching becomes a mere profession, it loses its fervour. Those who take it up begin to say things they do not believe and their actions tend to become divorced from their words. This can lead them to twist facts and compromise ideas and principles to serve their interests and desires. Their rulings, pronouncements and opinions, or fatwas, may sound convincing but they are far removed from the spirit and the letter of the religion.

The double standards of those who claim to represent a certain religion or ideology not only harm them personally, but also undermine the ideas and the religions they are advocating. Thus people would hear fine words, contradicted by foul deeds. Then become confused and the light generated by faith in their hearts becomes dim. Having lost trust in religious preachers, they now lose trust in the religion itself.

When they are not uttered with sincerity and conviction, words lose their impact. A man’s beliefs are meaningless unless his actions and behaviour become a practical translation of those beliefs. When a man’s conduct reflects his words, no matter how plain and ordinary these words are, people will trust him and take him seriously. His words draw their power and effect from the sincerity and honesty with which they are being uttered, not from the rhetoric or eloquence in which they are delivered. They assume a force of their own.

To match one’s actions to one’s words is not easy to achieve. It requires cultivation, discipline and constant contact with God. Life’s preoccupations are normally distracting, and man is weak unless he remains in touch with God’s omnipotent power. The forces of evil and temptation can also overwhelm him sometimes, and a brief moment of carelessness can damage the entire course of his life. But, supported by God’s invincible power, man can conquer his desires, overcome his weaknesses and overpower his opponents, powerful as they may be.

Thus the Qur’ān directs the Jews of Madinah and, by implication, all mankind, to seek support and strength through perseverance and prayer. The Jews were being asked to give up the privileged status they enjoyed in Madinah and the material benefits obtained from their religious functions, and to accept the new revelations which they knew to be true. Such great sacrifices require strength, courage and devotion. Hence the directive: “Seek strength in patient perseverance and in prayer, which is indeed a demanding task except for the devout, who know that they shall meet their Lord and to Him they shall ultimately return.” (Verses 45-46)

It demands courage, honesty and tenacity, as well as the power of prayer and perseverance.