(10) - A General Study of the Stories in Surah Al-Baqarah - (28/11/19)

بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم

It took Umar 12 years to finish Surah Al-Baqarah, and Ibn Umar 7 years. This study is just a general introduction to the Surah.

Part 2

Calling Bani Israeel to embrace Islam

Verse 40 to 162

4th Subsection 

Verse 122 (or 124) to 134 

A Good Example of Submission to Allah from the Predecessors of the Muslims and Bani Israeel (Ibrahim عليه السلام)

Ibraheem and Ism’eel عليهما السلام invoked Allah with 3 invocations while they were building the Ka’bah:

Verse 127:

وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَاعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

“And (remember) when Ibrahim (Abraham) and (his son) Isma'il (Ishmael) were raising the foundations of the House (the Ka'bah at Makkah), (saying), "Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us. Verily! You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knower."

“ربنا”

They invoked Allah with His name الرب. 

Allah, الرب, has two types of nurturing:

1) General - This is for all of creation by creating them, providing for them, and extending the means of all that helps them in their livelihood. 

2) Special - This is for the believers and entails guiding the believer to the right path, protecting his faith, strengthening his faith, etc.This is what Ibraheem and Ismaeel عليهما السلام sought when they invoked Allah with His name الرب. Guiding a person to perform a good deed and then accepting it from him is from the impacts of the special nurturing of Allah.

Fear and hope were established in their hearts when they were performing the good deed. They had fear that the good deed may not be accepted and hope that Allah would accept it. In order for a deed to be blessed and beneficial to the person and those who follow him, it should be accepted by Allah.

When a person puts effort to perfect his good deed and asks Allah to accept it from him, it indicates that he has fear and hope in his heart when he is performing it.

“إنك أنت السميع العليم”

They affirmed their belief that Allah is All-Hearing and All-Knowing with “إنك” and “أنت” and “ال التعريف”. 

السميع: He hears all sounds and voices, and He hears their supplication. He does not just hear, but He responds. 

العليم: He knows their secrets and what is established in their hearts, and will accordingly reward them. 

Verse 128:

رَبَّنَا وَاجْعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِنَا أُمَّةً مُّسْلِمَةً لَّكَ وَأَرِنَا مَنَاسِكَنَا وَتُبْ عَلَيْنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ

"Our Lord! And make us submissive unto You and of our offspring a nation submissive unto You, and show us our Manasik (all the ceremonies of pilgrimage - Hajj and 'Umrah, etc.), and accept our repentance. Truly, You are the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful.”

Ibraheem and Ismaeel عليهما السلام were Muslim/submissive, so why were they asking Allah for it? They were asking Allah to increase them in submissiveness, keep them firm on it, and not to be weakened on it in any time until the end of their lives.

They did not just ask for themselves, but for their offspring as well. This shows their love for the continuity of Islam after their death. If the offspring are Muslims, the parents will get the reward without diminishing the reward of the former. We should therefore ask Allah to make our children Muslims. The best thing that you ask Allah for your children is to keep them Muslims.

“و أرنا مناسكنا”

This either refers to:

1) The rituals for Hajj and Umrah

2) Or it generally refers to all acts of worship

“و تب علينا”

They asked Allah to forgive them, because no matter how perfect we do our good deeds, we still will never reach perfection. We will fall into shortcomings and deficiencies because this is our nature. One should not feel proud or arrogant of the good deeds he performs, he should humble himself to Allah and ask Allah to forgive him after he performs a good deed.

“إنك أنت التواب الرحيم”

The supplications are followed with names of Allah which are suitable for the request. This shows us their Fiqh (understanding). When we invoke Allah, we should use the names of Allah that are suitable to our request.

Verse 129:

رَبَّنَا وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيم

"Our Lord! Send amongst them a Messenger of their own (and indeed Allah answered their invocation by sending Muhammad Peace be upon him ), who shall recite unto them Your Verses and instruct them in the Book (this Quran) and Al-Hikmah (full knowledge of the Islamic laws and jurisprudence or wisdom or Prophethood, etc.), and sanctify them. Verily! You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise."

They ask Allah to send a Messenger from among the People of Makkah to them. What is the mission of this Messenger?

1)  يتلو عليهم - Teach them how to read the Qur’an and memorize  (تلاوة، حفظ، تحفيظ)

2) يعلمهم الكتاب - Teach the meaning of the Qur’an to the people 

3) و الحكمة - Teach them the Sunnah / The laws and the wisdom behind them 

4) و يزكيهم - And purify them from Shirk and refine their manners 

This teaches us that we should learn and act upon the truth. The result of teaching is purification. 

The Quraish and Bani Israeel rejected the Prophethood of Muhammad. Allah is telling them that their father, Ibraheem عليه السلام, invoked Allah to send a Messenger from among them. This is an indirect address to them. 

The Prophet ﷺ said in a Hadith:

“I am the result of the supplication of my father Ibraheem عليه السلام and I am the glad-tidings which Jesus gave to Bani Israeel.” [Ahmad]

Allah says in Surah as-Saff [61:6]:

وَإِذْ قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُم مُّصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَمُبَشِّرًا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِن بَعْدِي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ ۖ 

“And (remember) when 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), said: "O Children of Israel! I am the Messenger of Allah unto you confirming the Taurat [(Torah) which came] before me, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad.”

Until now, in the Old Testament, the name Muhammad is still there.

Ibraheem عليه السلام invoked Allah for an honourable mention in the later generations. We are the last nation and we mention his name with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in our prayer. This will happen until the Day of Judgement. 

Allah answered his supplication and sent the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and ordered him to follow the religion of Ibraheem and to mention him in our prayer. 

“إنك أنت العزيز الحكيم”

What is the connection between using these names of Allah with his request?

Because Allah is عزيز, whenever He wills something, no one can repel it. Allah is able to send a Messenger by His might and change the state of the people by His عزة. Allah will also honour the believers by His عزة.

Allah is الحكيم. He knows best who to chose, when to chose him, how to choose him, and the right time. After ‘Eesa عليه السلام, Allah sent the Prophet ﷺ. 

Verse 130:

وَمَن يَرْغَبُ عَن مِّلَّةِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِلَّا مَن سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ ۚ وَلَقَدِ اصْطَفَيْنَاهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَإِنَّهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ لَمِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ

“And who turns away from the religion of Ibrahim (Abraham) (i.e. Islamic Monotheism) except him who befools himself? Truly, We chose him in this world and verily, in the Hereafter he will be among the righteous.”

Allah is indirectly addressing Bani Israeel and the polytheists from the Arabs. Allah lists his merits and mentions his Religion - they claim that he is their father, so how can they turn away from his Religion?

Foolishness (سفه) is out of ignorance. There are two types of ignorance:

1) Where a person does not know and acts 

2) Where a person knows and turns away from it. This is what سفه is.

The Prophet ﷺ came with the same acts of worship, but Bani Israeel and the Quraish turned away from it.

“و إنه في الآخرة لمن الصالحين”

The صالحين are of different degrees. Ibrahim عليه السلام is of the highest type.

What is the Religion of Ibraheem عليه السلام?

Verse 131:

إِذْ قَالَ لَهُ رَبُّهُ أَسْلِمْ ۖ قَالَ أَسْلَمْتُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

“When his Lord said to him, "Submit (i.e. be a Muslim)!" He said, "I have submitted myself (as a Muslim) to the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists)."

Their forefather was Muslim and remained a Muslim until the end of his life. Islam has 3 meanings:

1) Submission to Allah with Tawheed (الإستسلام لله بالتوحيد)

Complying to His obedience (الإنقياد بالطاعة)

Disassociating oneself from Shirk and its people (البراءة من الشرك و أهله)

In the Qur’an it entails this meaning.

2) It is also the name of the religion of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

3) It is one of the levels of the Religion.

Verse 132:

وَوَصَّىٰ بِهَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بَنِيهِ وَيَعْقُوبُ يَا بَنِيَّ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَىٰ لَكُمُ الدِّينَ فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ

“And this (submission to Allah, Islam) was enjoined by Ibrahim (Abraham) upon his sons and by Ya'qub (Jacob), (saying), "O my sons! Allah has chosen for you the (true) religion, then die not except in the Faith of Islam (as Muslims - Islamic Monotheism)."

All of his children were Muslims. Bani Israeel’s father, Ya’qub عليه السلام, enjoined Islam upon his sons. The Jews claim that Ibraheem عليه السلام was a Jew, and the Christians claim that he was a Christian (as mentioned in Surah Aal-Imran). They denied Islam and the Ka’bah, which was built by their forefather. 

Our concern and advice to our children should be Tawheed.

Verse 133:

أَمْ كُنتُمْ شُهَدَاءَ إِذْ حَضَرَ يَعْقُوبَ الْمَوْتُ إِذْ قَالَ لِبَنِيهِ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن بَعْدِي قَالُوا نَعْبُدُ إِلَٰهَكَ وَإِلَٰهَ آبَائِكَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ إِلَٰهًا وَاحِدًا وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ

“Or were you witnesses when death approached Ya'qub (Jacob)? When he said unto his sons, "What will you worship after me?" They said, "We shall worship your Ilah (God - Allah), the Ilah (God) of your fathers, Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma'il (Ishmael), Ishaque (Isaac), One Ilah (God), and to Him we submit (in Islam)."

The Prophet ﷺ said that the paternal uncle is like the father [Muslim #277]. This is why Isma’eel is considered a father to Bani Israeel. In the Old Testemant Deuteronomy (18:18), Allah addresses Musa عليه السلام saying that He will send a Prophet from their brothers. 

The Christians believe in the trinity and this contradicts the Religion of their forefathers who said that they only worship one God.

During their lifetime, Ibraheem and Ya’qub عليهما السلام taught their children Tawheed in every situation and state. Until when Ya’qub was dying, he tested his children, and they replied in affirmative. You have to work hard in your lifetime as a parent to emphasize Islam and Tawheed to your children. Tell them that if they want you to love them and be pleased with them, worship Allah alone, pray on them, etc. If they need something, invoke Allah. He is the One who they should fear, hope, love, ask. This is your responsibility with them until the end of your life. 

This was their وصية. Their concern was who their children worshipped, not who would inherit their property and how to divide it. 

Verse 134:

تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ ۖ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَلَكُم مَّا كَسَبْتُمْ ۖ وَلَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

“That was a nation who has passed away. They shall receive the reward of what they earned and you of what you earn. And you will not be asked of what they used to do.”

The Jews always claimed that they were the chosen nation of Allah. That nation already passed away and will receive what they earned. Just because you are from their progeny, it does not mean you will automatically get their rewards. Everyone is responsible for his own deeds. The righteousness of the father will not benefit his son if he disbelieves; he has to save himself from the Hellfire and the punishment of Allah. His own Tawheed will save him from the Hellfire on the Day of Judgement and benefit him.