Ayahs 2:65–66This episode belongs to the time of Sayyidna Dawud (David (علیہ السلام Allah had appointed Saturday as the Sabt سبت ، or the sacred day, for the Israelites; it was specially set apart for prayers and worship, and hence fishing was prohibited on this day. But these people lived on the sea-shore, and were very fond of fish. Al-Qurtubi says that the Israelites, at first, invented all sorts of clever pretences for catching fish on Saturday, and gradually started doing so openly. There now grew a division amongst them on this point. On the one hand were these transgressors, and, on the other, some scholars and pious men who tried to dissuade them from such disobedience. When the former paid no heed to them, the latter broke away altogether from the sinners, and began to live in a separate part of the town. One day they felt no sound was coming from the other part of the town. Growing curious, they went there and found that all the transgressors had been changed into apes. Qatadah says that the young ones had become apes, and the old ones swine. The apes could recognize their relatives and friends, and would approach them weeping out of remorse, and seeking their sympathy and help. Then all of them died after three days.
As to the question whether the apes and the swine we see today bear any kinship to these Israelites who had been metamorphosed, the correct position is that people who have been metamorphosed into beasts by Allah as a punishment cease to breed, and leave no progeny behind. According to a hadith reported by Imam Muslim from the blessed Companion ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ some people asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ whether the apes and the swine were the descendants of the metamorphosed Jews. The Holy Prophet reminded them that apes and swine existed in the world even before, and said that when Allah sends down this particular kind of punishment on a people, the race comes to an end with this, and there is no further breeding.24
24. Some 'modernizing' Muslims have tried to explain away this metamorphosis by suggesting that these disobedient Jews did not actually and physically turn into beasts, but that the change was only psychological in so far as they acquired the evil characteristics of apes and swine. To say such a thing is to deny an explicit statement of the Holy Qur'an, which no Muslim can do, if he wishes to remain a Muslim. Moreover, in denying the possibility of physical change, the 'modernizers' are also denying the power of Allah, and putting limitations on it. Even as a piece of literary exegesis, the 'modernist' interpretation is flimsy. For, even before the punishment fell on them, these Jews had been displaying the moral and psychological traits of beasts: the greed of swine and the craftiness of apes. Where was, then, the change which the Holy Qur'an declares to be a punishment for the offenders and a warning for others? Our 'modernists' are, in fact, all too ready to swallow without batting an eye-lid the most preposterous and unfounded notions, only if they come from the West. So, they have complete certitude with regard to Darwin's speculation, that the apes evolved into man, although no verifiable data has yet been gathered to support the contention; but when it comes to the statement in the Holy Qur'an that men were changed into apes, they look askance at it, although this kind of change is rationally and logically as possible as the other.
Let us now go back to the verse under discussion. The people who witnessed the event, or heard of it, were of two kinds - the disobedient and the obedient. For the disobedient, it served as a 'deterrent', an example and a warning, which persuaded them to repent of their disobedience. For the obedient, it was a lesson and a reminder that they should be steadfast in their obedience. It serves these two purposes even now.
Injunctions and related considerations
We have been saying that the Jews who were changed into apes had used certain ruses or pretences to justify their sin in their own eyes. This brings us to a rather delicate question of Fiqh فقہ (Islamic jurisprudence). Certain 'modernists' have quite shamelessly been busy maligning the master jurists of Islam by suggesting that these masters have invented very intricate "stratagems" (Hiyal, plural of Hilah) for helping the rich and powerful to infringe the laws of the Shari'ah and get away with it. This is a petty calumny, and should not have been worthy of consideration except for the fact that such 'modernists' have had some success with the gullible and the ignorant by playing upon the Arabic word Hilah. As everyone knows, the lexical meaning of a word is one thing, and its technical signification, when it is used as a term in some science, is another. In its literal sense, the word Hilah no doubt means "a trick, a stratagem", but as a technical term in Fiqh فقہ it signifies a device for and a means of giving legitimacy to an action in a contingency by making certain necessary modifications in it in consonance with the 'Shari` ah. Thus, it is not a way of by-passing the Shari'ah, but of helping people to conform to it even in a situation where necessity or human weakness would compel them to go against it.
The present verse has a particular relevance to the question, and would help to clarify it a great deal. The transgression on the part of the Jews which the verse speaks of, and which drew upon them such dreadful punishment, was not a clear and explicit infringement of divine law, but the use of certain "tricks" which necessarily involved the negation of the divine commandment. For example, on Saturday they would tie one end of a cord to the tail of a fish and the other end to something on the shore, and leave the fish in the water; on Sunday, they would take it out and eat it. Such a ruse not only negates an injunction of the Shari'ah, but is actually a mockery. That is why those who practiced such "stratagems" were considered to be disobedient and rebellious, and subjected to dire punishment.
But this particular instance does in no way go to prove that the Hiyal are impermissible. We have explained the nature and purpose of such "devices" alone. Not only do they form an integral part of Fiqh فقہ ، but some of them have actually been suggested by the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself. For example, bartering a kilo of good dates for two kilos of bad dates is, according to the Shari'ah, a kind of usury. The Holy Prophet ﷺ has suggested a "device" (Hilah) for avoiding the infringement of this regulation in a situation where such a transaction becomes necessary - that is, instead of bartering one commodity for another, one may employ the exchange value of money: first sell two kilos of bad dates for two rupees, and then with the two rupees thus obtained buy a kilo of good dates. The intention in using this "device" is to conform to the Shari'ah, and not to by-pass it. The negation of the Shari'ah is neither intended here, nor does it actually take place. This principle holds good in the case of all the Hiyal which the Fuqaha-' (jurists) have proposed in order to save people from practicing what the Shari` ah has prohibited. It is a travesty of the truth to compare them to or represent them as the "tricks" employed by the Jews to negate and mock the Shari ah.
Ayah 2:67According to Mirqat, a commentary on Mishkat, a man among the Israelites wanted to marry a girl, but her father refused. The suitor was so incensed that he killed the father, and disappeared. It is mentioned in Ma` alim al-tanzil which says on the authority of Kalbi that Allah had not yet sent down any injunction with regard to man-slaughter. If it was so, this shows that the incident happened before the Torah was revealed. Anyhow, the Israelites requested Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) to tell them how to trace the culprit. Under the commandment of Allah, he asked them to sacrifice a cow. As was their regular habit, they started raising all kinds of doubts and objections, of which the next verses give us the details.
Ayahs 2:68–71These Verses show how the Israelites were disposed to disobedience, and how this inclination expressed itself in different forms. The Hadith says that if these people had obeyed Allah's commandment without raising so many doubts and asking unnecessary questions, such strict condition would not have been imposed on them, and the sacrifice of any cow whatsoever would have been accepted.
Ayahs 2:72–73The murderer had his supporters who wanted to hide his crime, and hence began accusing different people. But Allah willed that the criminal should be brought to book, and appointed a miraculous way of identifying him -- that is, the dead body of the murdered man should be touched with a part of the flesh of the sacrificial cow. When this was done, the dead man came back to life, announced the name of his murderer, and died again.
This miraculous event is a manifestation of the omnipotence of Allah, and Holy Qur'an presents it as an argument against those who deny the Resurrection of the dead for the Last Judgment. Verse 73 says that this precedent should induce people to make use of their reason, and see that what has happened in a past instance can as easily happen in a future instance.
With regard to this event one may ask as to why Allah made the resurrection of the dead man depend upon his being touched with a part of flesh when he had the power to bring the man back to life without the intervention of any such device; or, one may ask as to why the dead man should have been brought back to life when the name of the murderer could have been revealed even otherwise. In answer to this, we shall say that Allah is omnipotent, and does not act under any kind of compulsion, but that all His actions proceed from His all-embracing wisdom. Moreover, it is He alone who knows, and can know, the raison d'etre of what He does. The Shari'ah does not oblige us to discover the raison d'etre of each and every divine act, nor is it necessary or possible that we should be able to comprehend the raison d'etre in each case. The best way in such a case is to accept what Allah or the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said, and to keep quiet.
Let us say a word about the arrangement and sequence of the events. Verse 72 relates how a man was murdered, and how people started accusing each other. This is the beginning of the story which has been related earlier in Verses 67-71. This chronological order has not been preserved in the narration, but inverted, and this re-arrangement has a subtle significance. This long section of the Surah (Chapter) has been dealing with the transgressions of the Israelites, and this is just what the Holy Qur'an intends to bring out in narrating different stories, the narrating of stories not being an object in itself here. The present story is meant to show two misdeeds - firstly, committing a murder and then trying to hide it; secondly, raising uncalled-for objections to divine commandments. If the chronological order had been kept up, the readers would have supposed that it was only the first of these that was really intended, while the second was added only by way of completing the story. The present arrangement clearly shows that both the misdeeds have been equally emphasized.
Injunctions and related consideration
In this incident the statement of the murdered man was considered evidence for condemning the murderer, because Allah had informed Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) through revelation that the man would, on coming back to life, speak the truth. Otherwise, one cannot be declared as being guilty of murder without proper evidence, the rules of which have been laid down by the Shari'ah.
Ayah 2:74The Surah has been relating a number of incidents which show that the Israelites were always prone to disobedience and rebellion and had to undergo punishment again and again. Such an experience should have taught them humility and obedience. On the contrary, their hearts became all the more hardened against divine guidance. This insensibility led them into further misdeeds and transgressions. The present verse describes their degeneracy, and warns them that Allah knows everything they have been doing, and will punish them for their evil deeds.
In contrasting the hearts of the Israelites with stones, the verse refers to three states of the latter: (1) Some stones give forth a great amount of water. (2) Others give forth only a small quantity. (3) Still others do not give forth water, but fall down from their place for fear of Allah.
The first two of these states are a matter of everyday observation, but the third may be subject to doubt, for the ability to feel fear requires reason and sensibility, and the stones, as one supposes, do not possess these faculties. But reason is not always a necessary requisite for the ability to feel fear - after all, animals do feel fear, even though they do not possess reason. Sensibility is, of course, necessary. But there is no rational argument which should deny sensibility to minerals. For sensibility depends on life, and the minerals may possibly possess a kind of subtle life which man may not be aware of. In fact, scientists have recently discovered the signs of life and sensibility in minerals too. Anyhow, an explicit statement in the Holy Qur'an carries a validity and an authority which no physical science or rational argument can dispute.
Then, we do not claim that fear of Allah is always the only cause which makes a stone fall down. For, the Holy Qur'an itself says that this cause operates only in the case of some stones. So, there may be different causes which make stones fall down; some of these causes may be purely physical, while one of them may be the fear of Allah.
The order in which the three kinds of stones have been mentioned is very subtle, and, in view of the meaning and purpose intended, extremely expressive and significant. The verse places in the highest degree those stones whose affectivity is so strong that rivers gush forth from them, and provide sustenance to beasts and men. In contrast to them, it has been suggested, the hearts of the Jews are so hard that they are incapable of feeling any sympathy for their fellow-men even in suffering and pain, and hence incapable of wishing to do them good. In the second degree come the stones which do serve the creatures of Allah, but to a lesser extent. But the hearts of Jews are harder than even these. To the lowest degree of affectivity belong those stones which do not benefit anyone, but can at least 'feel' the fear of Allah. But the Jews are devoid of even this minimum degree of sensitivity.
Ayah 2:75The Muslims used to take great pains in trying to make the Jews accept Islam. Having recounted so many stories of the perversity of the Jews, the Holy Qur'an points out to the Muslims that they cannot expect such a people to be sensible, and asks them not to worry much about them. For, some of the Jews have been committing an even more heinous sin - they used to change and distort the Word of Allah in spite of knowing the ignominy of such a deed. So, the Holy Qur'an wants the Muslims to realize that men who are so enslaved to their desires and so shameless in their pursuit of evil, cannot be expected to listen to anyone.
The "Word of Allah" mentioned in the verse refers to the Torah which the Jews had "heard" from the prophets, and the distortion pertains to the changes made in the words themselves or in the sense or in both; or it refers to the words of Allah which the seventy men had heard directly on the Mount Tur طور (Sinai) where they had gone to seek divine confirmation of what Sayyidna Musa (Moses (علیہ السلام) ) had been telling and the distortion pertains to their declaration before their people that Allah had promised to forgive them if they could not act upon certain commandments.
The Jews who were the contemporaries of the Holy Prophet ﷺ may not have themselves been involved in some of these transgressions, but since they did not abhor the misdeeds of their forefathers, they are to be considered as their counterparts.
Ayah 2:76Some of the Jews, seeing the growing power of the Muslims in Madinah and around it, pretended to have accepted Islam. In order to assure the Muslims of their sincerity and to win their favour, these hypocrites would now and then disclose to them that the Torah itself had given out the good tidings of the coming of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and mentioned the Holy Qur'an. But when they met other Jews who openly declared their adherence to Judaism, they would admit that they were only trying to deceive the Muslims, and were otherwise quite loyal to their own faith. On such occasions, those of the other group used to reprimand them for revealing to the Muslims what they themselves were trying to keep concealed, for a knowledge of the relevant verses of the Torah could be very useful for the Muslims in order to defeat the Jews in their argument.
Ayahs 2:77–79Allah reminds the Jews that He is omniscient, and knows what they try to keep concealed as well as what they say or do openly. So, it would make no difference at all, if the hypocrites tried to conceal their infidelity from the Muslims, or the other group, not to disclose the verses of the Torah which speak of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . For, Allah Himself has, on different occasions, informed the Muslims in the Holy Qur'an as to the hypocrisy of certain Jews and as to the testimony of the Torah also.
Verse 77 deals with the educated ones among the Jews, while Verse 78 speaks of those who were unlettered. These men had no knowledge of the Torah, and were even deficient in their understanding. Then, the Jewish scholars did not give them correct or proper information about their religion. No wonder, their minds were stuffed only with baseless superstitions which they found very pleasant and flattering.
Since the dishonesty of their scholars was the real cause of their superstitiousness, the crime of the former was greater than that of the latter. So, Verse 79 turns to the Jewish scholars. They were greedy and self-seeking, and in order to please the people for receiving money and respect from them, they used to misrepresent divine injunctions, going so far as to change the words of the Torah or distort the sense, pretending all the while that this was just what Allah had said or meant. The Verse 79 announces a grievous punishment for these two sins - distorting the Word of Allah and earning money by doing so.
A doctrinal point
Verse 78 says that the illiterate Jews follow their Zann ظن ، that is to say, their fancies or conjectures. Some people do not pay any attention to the context in which the word has been used here, and come to the erroneous conclusion that it is not legitimate to accept or follow any view or injunction based on Zann ظن ، which they always translate as "a fanciful supposition." This, no doubt, is one of the lexical meanings of the word, but only one. Let us explain that the Holy Qur'an uses the word Zann ظن in three ways:
(1) To signify perfect certitude -"Those who are certain that they are going to meet their Lord" (2:46). (2) To signify the greatest likelihood - "And he said to him whom he thought was the more likely of the two to be released from the prison" (12:42). (3) To signify a mere fanciful supposition - as in the present verse. The Zann ظن which the Holy Qur'an prohibits us to follow is that of the third kind. This verse condemns the Jews for having followed this kind of Zann ظن which consists in a fanciful opinion that is not supported by a respectable argument or goes against a valid one. On the contrary, it is necessary to follow the Zann ظن of the first two kinds. When certain ahadith or certain arguments and conclusions in the Shari` ah are described as resting on Zann ظن ، it is done according to the second signification of the word. One cannot avoid this kind of Zann ظن in any sphere of life, and the Shari` ah requires us to accept and follow it. Certain verses of the Holy Qur'an, of course, condemn those who follow their Zann ظن ، but to apply this condemnation to all the possible cases, and to use such verses for rejecting all the legitimate arguments and injunctions of the Shariah based on Zann ظن is to betray one's ignorance of the Holy Qur'an.
Ayah 2:80The claim of the Jews that they would not be sent to Hell for their sins, or, if at all, only for a few days, has been interpreted by the Commentators in different ways. One of them is as follows:-
The principle is common to all the Shari'ahs that if a believer commits sins, he will receive a punishment in Hell for some time and in accordance with the degree and nature of his sins, but as he possesses 'Iman ایمان (faith), he will not be assigned to Hell for ever, and will be released after having served his term. Now, the argument on which the assertion of the Jews was based was that since the Shari ah of Sayyidna Musa (Moses علیہ السلام) had not, in their view, been abrogated, they were true believers (Mumins مؤمنین ), and had not turned into infidels (Kafirs) by denying the prophethood of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus ( and of Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ ; hence - so the argument ran - if they were sent to Hell in punishment of some sin, they would again' be taken out after a few days. This false assertion is, thus based on another false assertion. The Torah never declares that the Shari` ah of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) is meant to last forever. To claim perpetuity for it is an unfounded and false assertion, and hence the Jews who made such a claim and denied the prophethood of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and of Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ ، must on account of this denial be held to be infidels and disbelievers (Kafirs کفار ). And no Book of Allah holds out to the infidels the promise that they would be released from Hell after a while. The present verse refers to such a promise as the "pledge" of Allah. Since Allah has never made such a promise, it goes to show that the Jews were making a baseless claim.
Ayahs 2:81–82Having refuted the claim of the Jews as baseless, the Holy Qur'an lays down the divine law in this regard. Those who commit evil deeds knowingly and deliberately so that evil takes hold of them completely, leaving no trace of goodness - such men shall go to the Hell, and live there forever, without any intermission or release. But those who believe in Allah and the Holy Prophet ﷺ - whose Shari` ah has now abrogated all the earlier Shari'ahs and who do good deeds in conformity with the Islamic Shari'ah, - it is these men who shall go to Paradise, and will live there forever.
Let us explain how evil can take hold of a man so completely that no trace of goodness is left. This kind of thing happens only to infidels (Kafirs کفار), and not to Muslims, even when they are sinners. For, no good deed on the part of an infidel is acceptable to Allah on account of his infidelity; even the good deeds he has done before his apostasy and infidelity are lost, and rendered null and void. That is why on the Day of Judgment, infidels will have to show nothing but evil, in punishment of which they shall live in Hell for ever. On the contrary, men of faith will, to begin with, have the greatest and highest good deed to their credit - namely, faith ('Iman ایمان) itself. Then, their secondary good deeds too are recorded in their account. So, they cannot be devoid of all goodness, and evil cannot be said to have taken hold of them completely.
In short, the infidel, according to this divine law, must always live in Hell. Since Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) (Moses) was not the last prophet, but was followed by two other prophets, Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) and Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ ، the Jews turned into infidels by denying these two prophets. So, in accordance with this law, they too will be assigned to Hell for ever like other infidels, and their claim that they would be released from Hell after few days can now be seen to be totally false and baseless.
Ayah 2:83This verse speaks of the pledge which Allah had made the Israelites take, and the few people it refers to as having been true to the pledge were those who acted upon the Shari'ah of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) (Moses) as long as it was in force, and when it was abrogated, followed the Shari` ah of Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ .
Injunctions and related considerations
(1) This verse brings out the basic elements common to Islam and all the earlier Shari` ah: Tauhid توحید (the doctrine of Unity or Oneness); service to one's parents, relations, orphans and the needy; being gentle in speaking to all human beings; Salah نماز and Zakah زکاۃ .
(2) The verse asks us to adopt a gentle tone and an open-hearted manner in speaking to others, whether they are good or evil, pious or impious, orthodox or aberrant, followers of Sunnah or adherents to partitive innovations in it. In religious matter, however, one should not try to hide the truth for the sake of pleasing people or of winning their approval. The Holy Qur'an tells us that when Allah sent Sayyidna Musa and Sayyidna Harun (Moses and Aaron) (علیہم السلام) to the Pharaoh فرعون ، He instructed them to use gentle and soft words (20:42). None of us who addresses another today can be superior to Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) ، nor can the man addressed be viler than the Pharaoh فرعون .
Talha ibn ` Umar recounts that once he said to the great master of the Sciences of Exegesis and Hadith, 'At-a' عطاء ، "One can see around you people who are not quite orthodox in their beliefs. As for me, I am rather short-tempered. If such people come to me, I deal with them harshly." ` Ata' replied, "Do not behave like this," and, reciting the present verse, he added, Allah has commanded us to speak to people politely. When Jews and Christians all are to be treated like this, would this commandment not apply to a Muslim, no matter what kind of a man he is?" (Qurtubi)
Ayah 2:84This verse is a supplement to the previous verse, and speaks of the other articles of the pledge taken by the Israelites. They had agreed not to kill one another by engaging themselves in an internecine war, and also not to send their men into exile - that is to say, not to harass a man so as to force him to migrate.
They had willingly taken this pledge. Now, it may sometimes happen that one does not express one's willingness in so many words, but the manner of his speech suggests it. The agreement of the Israelites was not of this order, but as clear and explicit as the statement of a witness usually is.
Ayah 2:85This verse recounts how the Israelites broke the pledge they had willingly made. Allah had laid down three special injunctions for the Israelites: (1) They should not kill one another in an internecine war. (2) They should not force their own people into exile. (3) If they found a man from amongst them a prisoner of war, they should pay a ransom, and get him released. The Israelites disregarded the first two injunctions, and acted upon the third alone which they supposed easier to be carried out.
It happened like this. There lived in Madinah two tribes, the Aws اوس and the Khazraj خزرج ، who were hostile to each other, and would often go to war. In the environs of Madinah, there also lived two tribes of the Jews, the Bani Qurayzah بنی قریظہ and the Bani Nadir. The former had friendly relations with the Aws اوس ، and the latter with the Khazraj خزرج . When the Aws اوس and the Khazraj خزرج went to war against each other, the two tribes of the Jews also took part in the battle, each on the side of its own friends. In these battles, many Jews lost their lives or were rendered homeless as much as the non-Jews. In other words, the Jews of the Bani Qurayzah بنی قریظہ tribe had a share in the slaughter and exile of the Jews of the Bani Nadir tribe, and vice versa. However, when some of the Jews became prisoners of war, each of the two Jewish groups would persuade their respective friends among the non-Jews to accept a ransom and to release the prisoners. When they were asked why they showed such a solicitude for the prisoners, they would say that it was obligatory for them to get prisoners released. But when someone objected to their helping the non-Jews in slaughtering the Jews, they used to reply that it would be a real disgrace if they did not go to the aid of their friends, even if they were not Jews.
So, the present verse exposes their duplicity and their perversity. The Holy Qur'an indicts their behaviour as "sin and aggression," and this suggests that the Israelites were infringing on two kinds of rights -- the right of Allah, by disobeying Him; and the right of His creatures, by inflicting pain and loss on them.
The verse proceeds to reprimand them for accepting certain injunctions laid down in the Torah, while rejecting others, and following their own whims in both the cases. At the end, this long verse announces the grave punishment for such misdeeds the Israelites will have to bear in this world as well as in the other.
Let it be clearly understood that the Jews referred to in this verse had already become infidels (Kafirs کفار) by refusing to accept and affirm the prophethood of Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ . But instead of referring to this aspect of their infidelity, the verse points out another aspect. It reprimands them for having faith ('Iman ایمان ) only in some part of the Book (Torah تورات ) and not having faith in some other. If we take the words of the present verse literally, it means that the Jews had become infidels by not having faith in some parts (that is to say, some injunctions) of the Torah. For, a Divine Book has to be accepted as a whole; to reject a part is to reject the whole, and clearly amounts to disbelief and infidelity (Kufr کفر ). But if we interpret the present verse in a different way, and take it to be reprimanding the Jews for not acting upon certain injunctions, then a question would arise here: How is it that the verse delineates their infringement of certain commandments as Kufr کفر or infidelity, although a believer cannot be considered an infidel so long as he accepts, at least in principle, the distinctions between the Halal حلال (lawful) and the Haram حرام ( unlawful) exactly as laid down by the Shari'ah? The answer to the question is that when a sin is very grave, the idiom of the Shari'ah sometimes delineates it as Kufr کفر (infidelity) in order to emphasize its gravity and its moral nature. This is also what the hadith intends to do when it says: مَن تَرَکَ الصَلاۃ مُتَعمَّداً فَقَد کَفَرَ :"He who gave up the Salah wilfully became an infidel.
This second interpretation does not, however, attenuate or modify the Kufr کفر (infidelity) of the Jews of which they had already been guilty by denying the prophethood of Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ .
The verse announces that the Jews will have to bear a punishment not only in the other world, but in this world too - in the shape of humiliation and disgrace. It took place as it had been foretold. In the time of the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself, the Jews of the Bani Qurayzah بنی قریظہ tribe had to lose their lives or to undergo imprisonment, and those of the Bani Nadir tribe were expelled for having broken the pact they had earlier made with the Muslims.
A doctrinal point
Verse 85 announces the "punishment" for Jews. One may very well ask here why the direst punishment should be reserved for the Jews, and not for atheists, for the Jews at least believe in Allah. The famous Commentator 'Aids' says in his "Ruh al-Ma'ani" that every punishment meted out to the infidels will be "the direst" in the sense that it will have no end or limit. So, what the verse implies is not that the punishment given to the Jews will be more severe than the one given to all the other infidels, but that they will be given the kind of punishment which is "the direst" in the sense of having no end or limit. In other words, the verse suggests that the punishment given to the infidels will be more severe than the one given to Muslim sinners. But if there are going to be different degrees in the punishment meted out to different kinds of infidels, it does not in any way go against the implications of this verse. (Bayan al-Qur an)
Ayah 2:86This verse explains why the Jews will have to undergo such a severe punishment. They have been disobeying Allah in order to satisfy their desires and to enjoy worldly pleasures; they have also sacrificed for these things their salvation in the other world. Their sin being so great, Allah will not reduce or mollify their punishment, nor will He allow anyone to intercede on their behalf.
Ayah 2:87The Qur'an again reminds the Israelites how Allah in His mercy forgave them their transgressions again and again, and provided them with all the means of guidance. First of all, He gave them a Divine Book, the Torah, through Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) (Moses); then, sent them a number of prophets; and, at the end of this line, sent down Sayyidna Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) along with clear and irrefutable evidences of his prophethood, like the Evangel and miracles, and appointed the Archangel Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) (Gabriel) to give him support.
The Archangel Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) has often been called "Ruh al-Qudus" (the Holy Spirit) in the Noble Qur'an and the Hadith. For example, in Verse 16:102 - قُلْ نَزَّلَهُ رُوحُ الْقُدُسِ مِن رَّبِّكَ بِالْحَقِّ لِيُثَبِّتَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَهُدًى وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ ﴿102﴾ - "Say: the Holy Spirit has brought it (the Noble Qur'an) down;" or in a couplet of the poet and blessed Companion Hassan ibn Thabit ؓ ، reported in the Hadith:
وجبریل رسول اللہ فینا
وروح القدس لیس لہ کفاء
Jibra'il, the messenger of Allah, comes to us;
he is the Holy Spirit, the incomparable."
Allah helped and supported Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) through Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) in several ways. (1) He was conceived through the breath of the Archangel. (2) Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) protected him against being touched by Satan at the time of his birth. (3) The Archangel always accompanied him in order to defend him against the hostility of the Jews. (4) It was through him that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was raised to the heavens.
In. spite of all these divine favours, the Jews persisted in their rebellion. They were so stubborn in the worship of their desires, that whenever the prophets brought to them certain divine injunctions which did not please them, the Jews would deny the prophets – they denied even Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، or would kill them outright -- for example, they dealt in this vile manner with Sayyidna Zakariyya (علیہ السلام) (Zachariah) and Sayyidna Yahya (علیہ السلام) (John the Baptist).
Ayah 2:88The Jews used to say sarcastically that their hearts were "veiled", by which they meant that their hearts were so well protected against Islam that it could never touch them. This was their way of congratulating themselves on being staunch in their belief. The Holy Qur'an points out that this is not the firmness of faith, but a damnation, for they deny Islam which now is the true religion, and stick to a religion which has been abrogated. They, consequently, possess only "a little" faith ('Iman ایمان). Since a little faith is not acceptable, they turn out to be infidels.
The little “ faith" which they possessed pertained to the doctrines which are common to Islam and Judaism - for example, belief in Allah, or belief in the Day of Judgment. But they did not accept Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ as a prophet, and the Holy Qur'an as the Word of Allah. So, their faith was not complete.
If the Verse describes 'the little faith' as 'Iman ایمان ، it does so only in the lexical sense, for 'Iman ایمان signifies total certitude, even if it pertains to certain things, and not to others. But from the point of view of the Shari'ah, such a partial faith cannot be described as 'Iman ایمان . The Shari` ah would accept as valid only that 'Iman ایمان which affirms with certitude each and everything that the Shari` ah requires one to affirm.
Ayah 2:89The Torah تورات had in several places foretold the coming of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . In fact, the Jews themselves used to tell the Arabs that a new prophet and a new Divine Book was soon to come. But when the Holy Qur'an came down from Allah, and even when they had recognized its authenticity, the Jews denied it out of sheer spite.
The verse says that the Holy Qur'an confirms the Torah تورات it means that the Holy Qur'an is a concrete evidence of the truth of the prophecies made in the Torah تورات with regard to the coming of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and of the Holy Qur'an. One who believes in the Torah تورات cannot justifiably deny the Holy Qur'an and the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، for such a denial would involve a denial of the Torah تورات itself.
Knowledge is not enough for 'Iman ایمان
One may want to know why the Holy Qur'an calls the Jews Kafirin کافرون (infidels), when they did recognize the truth as truth, which should qualify them to be called "believers." Let us explain that 'Iman ایمان (faith) does not merely mean "knowing the truth", but really signifies "accepting the truth and affirming it deed-wise." Otherwise, Satan too will have to be called a believer, for he knows fully well what the truth is. In fact, this knowledge of the truth on the part of Satan شیطان intensifies the gravity of his Kufr کفر (infidelity) all the more.
However, the next verse attributes the infidelity of the Jews to their malice.
Ayah 2:90Prophethood cannot be earned through one's own efforts or one's own merit; it is a special grace which Allah bestows on whomsoever He likes. But the Jews were so envious and malicious that they denied the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the Holy Qur'an out of sheer spite. In doing so, they were questioning the will of Allah Himself. Thus, they earned divine wrath in two ways - firstly, for denying a true prophet; and secondly؛ for their envy and malice.
The Holy Qur'an says that the Jews will have to undergo a punishment which would involve not only pain, but also disgrace and abasement. The latter condition has been added to suggest that this kind of punishment is peculiar to the infidels, and is not meant for a true Muslim at all, for a Muslim, no matter how great his sins are, will be punished for the purpose of being purified, not for being disgraced.
The next verse reports what the Jews used to say with regard to the Holy Qur'an, which clearly shows their envy and malice as well as their infidelity (Kufr کفر).