2. Surah Al-Baqara

The Jews flatly refused to believe in any Book of Allah -- like the Evangel or the Holy Qur'an - except in the Torah. This denial is a clear evidence of their infidelity (Kufr کفر). Moreover, they also used to add that they believe in the Torah, for it had been sent down to them. This comes to mean that they denied the other Books just because they had not been sent down to them. Such an argument betrays their envy and malice. The Holy Qur'an refutes their argument in three ways: (1) When the truth and authenticity of the other Books has been established on the basis of irrefutable arguments, what does, then, this denial mean? If they had any doubts as to the arguments on the basis of which authenticity was being claimed for these Books, they could very well have voiced this doubt, and satisfied themselves on this point. But why this flat refusal to believe? (2) The other Books, like the Holy Qur'an, confirm the Torah..If one denies them, one at the same time denies the Torah itself. (3) To slay a prophet is tantamount to infidelity (Kufr), according to all the Divine Books. Moreover, the prophets whom the Jews had killed were themselves Israelites, and their teachings, were based on the injunctions of the Torah. But the Jews not only killed these prophets, but also accepted the killers as their chiefs. This is a direct denial of the Torah, and falsifies their claim that they believe in the Torah. In short, nothing that the Jews say or do is acceptable and valid from any possible point of view. The next verses proceed to refute the Jews on several other counts.

The "clear signs" mentioned in the verse refers to the miracles which- had manifested themselves even before the Torah was given to Sayyidna Musa (Moses علیہ السلام) -- for example, his staff that turned into a .snake, the palm of his hand which shone brightly, the splitting of the sea to make a path for the Israelites, etc. These miracles were meant to affirm the Oneness of Allah and His omnipotence, and to provide an evidence for the prophethood of Sayyidna Musa۔ (علیہ السلام) In refutation of the Jews, the verse points out that although they lay a claim to 'Iman ایمان (faith), yet have been falling into the sin of Shirk شرک (association), which involves a denial not only of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) but even of Allah Himself. Although the Jews who were the contemporaries of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، did not themselves take part in the worship of the golden calf, yet they respected such of their forefathers as had done so, and took their side. So, for all practical purposes, they too were guilty of the same sin. The verse also suggests that no wonder if these people, whose forefathers denied Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) ، should now be denying the Holy Prophet ﷺ .

In refuting the claim of the Jews to be authentic and true already referred to in Verse 63. When the Israelites succeeded, with the help of Allah, in escaping from Egypt and crossing the sea, they came upon a people who used to worship idols. They found this cult so attractive that they requested Sayyidna Musa (Moses علیہ السلام) to fabricate a visible and concrete god for them too. When he reprimanded them, they realized their error, and offered' repentance. But repentance has many degrees. Since their repentance was not of a very high order, the darkness of their error did not altogether leave their hearts, but continued to grow, and finally manifested itself in the worship of the golden calf. As an act, of penance, some of them had to be slain, and others, as some commentators report, were forgiven and not slain. Possibly the repentance of these latter was again of a low order. As for those who had not indulged in the worship of the calf, they did not hate the action of the worshippers of the calf as much as they should have. So, their hearts too carried a trace of the sin of association (shirk شرک). So, either through the feebleness of their repentance or through a want of proper hatred for infidelity, their hearts became indolent in religious matters, so much so that when Allah asked them to take a pledge to follow the injunctions of the Torah steadfastly, Mount Tur طور (Sinai) was suspended over their heads to threaten them. This verse reports the Jews as having replied that they had heard the Command of Allah, but they would not obey, or would not be able to obey. It means that out of sheer fright they said (only with their tongues) that they had heard (that is to say, accepted) the Command of Allah. But there was no real consent in their hearts, and their posture and attitude was such as if they were saying that they would not or could not obey. Having referred to such example of their perversity and rebellion, the Holy Qur'an asks the Jews to have a look at themselves and also at their claim to genuine faith. Could a true faith ever inspire men to such deeds? If it is their brand of "faith" which leads them into such grave sins, then it cannot be a true faith. Hence their claim to be true believers is evidently false.

The Jews used to claim that the blessings of the other world were specially reserved for them, and were not, meant for any other people. Certain other verses of the Holy Qur'an too refer to such a claim on the part of the Jews, and also of the Christians: قَالُوا لَن تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ‌ إِلَّا أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَةً : "They say: The, fire will not touch us but for a few days" (2:80), وَقَالُوا لَن يَدْخُلَ الْجَنَّةَ إِلَّا مَن كَانَ هُودًا أَوْ نَصَارَ‌ىٰ : And they say: No one will enter Paradise except he who is a Jew or Christian" (2:111), وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ وَالنَّصَارَ‌ىٰ نَحْنُ أَبْنَاءُ اللَّـهِ وَأَحِبَّاؤُهُ :"And the Jews and the Christians said: We are the sons of Allah and His close friends" (5:18). What they meant in making such a claim was that since their own faith was the true one, they must certainly attain salvation in the other world -- the repentant and the forgiven being admitted to Paradise from the very beginning, the sinners finding release from the fires of Hell after undergoing a punishment for a few days, and the obedient receiving a welcome like sons and beloved friends. The use of certain improper expressions like "sons of Allah" not-withstanding, these claims are in themselves quite correct, provided that they pertain to people who follow a true and valid faith. But the Jews (and the Christians as well) were still following a faith which had been abrogated, and was thus no longer valid -- a fact which nullified their claim. So, the Holy Qur'an has refuted the claim again and again in different ways, and the present verse has adopted a special mode. The habitual method of settling a dispute is to have a discussion and let both the parties present their own arguments. Since the Jews knew they could not win, they fought shy of this normal way. So, the Holy Qur'an suggests an abnormal method, which would not call for much knowledge or understanding, but only put a little strain on the tongue. The proposed trial consists in this -- if the Jews are so sure of the blessings of the other world being reserved for themselves, they should declare that they wish to die, and this declaration would establish them as being genuine in their faith; but if they refuse to accept the challenge, it would show that they were liars. The Holy Qur'an also predicts that they would never have the courage to go through the trial. In view of their hostility to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، one could expect them to take up such a simple challenge very zealously. But they knew very well in their heart of hearts that the Holy Prophet a and the Muslims stood for the truth, while they themselves were the champions of falsehood, and were, in actual fact, infidels. So, they refused to go through the trial, for they were struck with awe, and feared that as soon as they had expressed the wish to die, death would come over them, and they would be sent to Hell. This recalcitrance is, thus, in itself an evidence of the truth of Islam. Here we must note that the trial was proposed not for all the Jews of all the ages, but specially for those who were the contemporaries of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، and who used to deny him out of sheer envy and malice, in spite of having recognized that he was a genuine prophet. Nor should one raise the doubt here that they had perhaps accepted the challenge, and "wished" for death in their hearts, as the Holy Qur'an seems to ask. For one, the Holy Qur'an itself reports the prediction that they would never "wish for it." Secondly, if they could wish for death in their hearts, they must have declared it orally too, for their victory lay in just such a declaration, and this was a very easy way of refuting the Holy Prophet ﷺ . But they did not avail themselves of this opportunity. Nor can one suppose that they did make an oral declaration, for the fact has not been reported, and thus has not come down to us. Such a supposition would be wrong, because the opponents of Islam have always outnumbered its adherents, and if such a thing had happened, they must have been trumpeting it aloud to show to the world that the Jews had successfully passed the test proposed by the Holy Qur'an itself.

This verse shows the basic weakness of the Jews which did not allow them to accept the challenge proposed in Verse 94, and thus exposes the hollowness of their claim to the blessings of the other world being reserved for them. The Holy Qur'an puts a special emphasis on the fact that the Jews loved physical life much more than did the Arab polytheists. Such an inclination should not have been surprising on the part of the latter, for, after all, they did not believe in the other world, and physical life was the be-all and end-all for them. But the Jews acknowledged the existence of the other world, and even had the illusion that they alone deserved its joys, and yet it was they who, above all others, wished to live in this world as long as possible. This very desire shows how baseless their pretention was, and how they themselves knew that they would have to face the fires of Hell in the other world, and that physical life was, as long as it lasted, a kind of protection against their final fate.

The perversity of the Jews was very fertile, and gave them ever-new excuses for denying the Holy Prophet ﷺ . When they learnt that it was Archangel Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) (Gabriel ) who brought the Glorious Qur'an to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، they said that the Archangel (علیہ السلام) was their enemy, as it was through him that rigorous commandments or catastrophic punishments had always descended on them,. and that for this reason they would not accept a Book which had been revealed through his agency. They also added that they could have accepted the Holy Qur'an, if the Archangel Mika'il (علیہ السلام) (Michael) had brought it down, for he is connected with rain and with divine mercy. In refuting this argument, the Holy Qur'an points out that Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) is only a messenger, and has, acting only as a messenger, brought down the Holy Qur'an under a divine command to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . So, why should the Jews be so particular about the messenger, and not look at the Book itself? As for the Book, it confirms the earlier Books of Allah, provides guidance to men, and gives good tidings to the believers. This being what the Divine Books are meant for, the Holy Qur'an is evidently enough a Divine Book, and must, as such be obeyed. To deny it on account of one's hostility to Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) is sheer stupidity or outright perversity. Now, as for the attitude of the Jews towards Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) ، the Holy Qur'an declares that to be hostile to the angels (including Jibra'il and Mika'il (علیہما السلام) or to the prophets is tantamount to being hostile to Allah Himself. Verse 98 puts down the enemies of angels and prophets as infidels (Kafirin) in saying that Allah is the enemy of the infidels. In other words, those who deny or oppose the angels and the prophets will have their due punishment in the other world. Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi (رح) has, in his "Bayan al-Qur'an", warned against the possibility of very grave error that may arise with regard to the statement in Verse 97 that the Archangel Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) (Gabriel ) has "brought down the Book on the heart" of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . The error would lie in drawing from this phrase the conclusion that Allah has not revealed the words of the Holy Qur'an but only the meanings. Such a supposition is quite baseless, because many verses of the Holy Qur'an itself mention the Arabic language as the vehicle of revelation in the case of this particular Book of Allah. That should leave no room for any doubt. Moreover, the "heart" perceives words as much as it does meanings; in fact, the perceiving agent is the "heart", while the ears etc. are only its instruments. Specially, in the state of revelation, the external organs of the senses become dormant, and the heart receives even the words directly without the intervention of the ears. Although we cannot understand the nature of revelation properly, yet, choosing a mundane analogy, one can say that while dreaming in our sleep we do hear words and remember them afterwards, in spite of our external sense of hearing having been suspended while we dreamt. This example should make it easy to see that the revelation of meanings to the heart does in no way preclude the revelation of words as well. Anyhow, it is a sin - and an intellectual dishonesty - to rely on one's own conjectures in defiance of a clear and definite statement in the Holy Qur'an.

In denying the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، the Jews used to say that no clear evidence or sign of his prophethood had been revealed to him such as they could recognize and accept. In reply to this the Holy Qur'an says that Allah has revealed a number of very clear signs and evidences of his prophethood which even they know and understand very well. So, their denial is not based on a lack of recognition or knowledge, but on their habitual disobedience, for, as a general rule, no one denies such evidence except those who are willful and stubborn in their disobedience.

Allah had, as the Torah تورات itself reports, made the Jews take the pledge that they would have faith in the Holy Prophet ﷺ when he appeared. On being reminded of it, the Jews flatly denied even having taken such a pledge. Commenting on this effrontery, the Holy Qur'an says that this is not the only instance of such a conduct on their part, for the Jews have, in fact, never fulfilled even those pledges which they acknowledge, and one group or another from among them has always been breaking the compacts they have entered into, especially with regard to religious matters. It can even be said that most of those who have been guilty of such gross violations, did not at all believe in the compacts which they made with Allah. Going against a pledge is only a sin and transgression, but having no faith in the pledge which one gives to Allah is outright infidelity. The Holy Qur'an specifically speaks of one group or another breaking the pledge, and not of all the Jews. For there were some among them who did fulfil the pledges, so much so that many Jews finally accepted Sayyidna Muhammad as a true prophet, and joined the ranks of the Muslims.

The previous verse had told us how the breaking of pledges and disobedience had become a regular habit with the Jews. The present verse gives us the latest instance, which is the most relevant to the context. The Torah had already given the Jews the good tidings of the coming of the Holy Prophet . When he actually came with all signs which the Torah had indicated, thus confirming the Sacred Book of the Jews, a large number of them refused to accept him as a prophet. In doing this, they were, in fact, denying the Torah itself, and behaving as if they know nothing of the prophecy, or even the Torah being a Book of Allah. Thus, they were being guilty of infidelity (Kufr) even in terms of the Torah itself.