MUSLIM VILLA - QURAN ONLY

Category 5 => Commentary / Tafsir of specific Quranic Verses or Quran topics with detailed discussions => Topic started by: N. Truth Seeker on January 05, 2012, 03:33:46 am



Title: The Israelites after Prophet Moses
Post by: N. Truth Seeker on January 05, 2012, 03:33:46 am
 BismEm


"Bethink thee of the leaders of the Children of Israel after Moses, how they said unto a prophet whom they had: Set up for us a king and we will fight in Allah's way. He said: Would ye then refrain from fighting if fighting were prescribed for you ? They said: Why should we not fight in Allah's way when we have been driven from our dwellings with our children ? Yet, when fighting was prescribed for them, they turned away, all save a few of them. Allah is aware of evil-doers."  (2:246)  Surah Al-Baqrah.

Readers sometimes get confused by the event mentioned in the above Verse as they are sometimes unable to make the correct historical connections.  So let's take a close look to understand it.

If you read the preceding verses of Verse 2:246, you will observe that Muslims are urged to struggle and make every possible sacrifice including financial sacrifices for the cause of Allah.  Moreover, they have been warned to avoid those similar corruption which eventually led the Children of Israel into decline and degradation, by quoting their example.  To help us to understand this discourse it should be borne in mind that it was revealed during a period when the Muslims had been driven out of Makkah and had lived in Madinah for some time.  It was a time when the Muslims of Medinah were subjected to a lot of harassment by the disbelievers around them.  But when the need arose to fight, some of them showed reluctance and unwillingness.  Reference Verse 2:216,  "Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not." 

As elucidated in Verse 2:246, the  attention of the Muslims is drawn to two incidents in the history of the Israelites from which the may learn their lesson.  After Moses another Prophet came to the Israelites (the Quran does not mention the name of that Prophet) the people told that Prophet to select for them a king and then they would fight their enemies.  Yet, when the time came and they were commanded to fight, they showed unwillingness.  The fighting mentioned here is most likely a reference to the in-fighting of the different Israeli tribes after they came to the land of the Philistines (that is, present-day Palestine).  Different Israeli tribes had set up their own kingdom in different parts of Philistine with a lot of rivalry between them - the tribes of Israel and Judah being the two major ones.  It's possible that the reference is to one of the tribes being aggressive and tyrannical toward the other.

For detailed references and to get a perfect idea of the history and many of its realities of that age, please check the following posts:

 - The ancient terms 'Judea and Samaria' being used for Zionist propaganda (http://muslimvilla.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=952.0)
- Difference between a Jew and an Israeli (http://muslimvilla.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=3294.0)
- Bani Israel working corruption & tyranny twice: Divine warning to Israelites (http://muslimvilla.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=3404.0)