40. يَٰبَنِيٓ إِسۡرَـٰٓءِيلَ ٱذۡكُرُواْ نِعۡمَتِيَ ٱلَّتِيٓ أَنۡعَمۡتُ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَأَوۡفُواْ بِعَهۡدِيٓ أُوفِ بِعَهۡدِكُمۡ وَإِيَّـٰيَ فَٱرۡهَبُونِ
Yaa Baneee Israaa’eelaz kuroo ni’matiyal lateee an’amtu ‘alaikum wa awfoo bi’Ahdeee oofi bi ahdikum wa iyyaaya farhaboon.
O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I have bestowed upon you and fulfill My covenant [upon you] that I will fulfill your covenant [from Me], and be afraid of [only] Me.
The Surah Al-Baqarah begins by speaking of the Holy Qur’an itself, and tells us that although it provides guidance to all men, yet only true Muslims will derive a full benefit from it. The Sarah proceeds to warn the disbelievers against the grievous punishment which awaits them in the other world, and also to delineate the misdeeds of the two kinds of disbelievers – those who deny openly, and the hypocrites. Then, addressing all the three groups, it urges upon them to worship Allah alone, and, presenting the Holy Qur’an as a miracle which cannot be imitated by man, invites them to have faith in it. Next, the Surah recounts how Adam (علیہ السلام) was created to be the vice regent of Allah, and thus shows the omnipotence and wisdom of Allah so that men may realize why they must obey and worship Him and never be disobedient to Him.
Now, in the days of the Holy Prophet ﷺ there were two kinds of people among the disbelievers and the hypocrites. On the one hand were mushrikin مشرکین ، idolaters and associators who did not possess any religious knowledge, were even otherwise mostly illiterate, and followed the customs of their forefathers – for example, the inhabitants of Makkah in general whom the Holy Qur’an calls the Ummiyyun اُمیون (the illiterate). On the other hand were those who believed in the earlier prophets, had a knowledge of the earlier Divine Books like the Torah and the Evangile, and were known as being well-educated. Some of them were the followers of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) (Moses), but did not accept Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) as a prophet – these were the Yahud یہود or the Jews. Others were the followers of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، but did not believe that Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) was, being a prophet, divinely protected against all sin – these were the Nasara نصارا or the Christians. On account of their belief either in the Torah or the Evangel or in both, the Holy Qur’an calls these two groups Ahl al-Kitab اھل الکتاب (the people of the Book). Being well-educated, they were respected and trusted by the people around them, and their opinion had a great deal of weight. If they came to the straight path, others too could be expected to follow their example۔
The Jews predominated in Madinah and its environs. The Surah Al-Baqarah is also Madinite. So, after dealing with the idolaters and associators, it addresses the people of the Book in a special manner, from verse 40 to verse 123. Adopting a persuasive and friendly tone, the Surah refers to the noble family to which they belong and the honour which they receive from the people on account of such an affiliation; then, recounting the blessings which Allah has been showering on them, it asks them to be aware of their many misdeeds and their sins, and invites them to come to the Straight Path. All this has been said, to begin with, in a very brief manner – four verses inviting them to Islam, and three to good deeds. Then comes a long and detailed address to them, at the beginning of which, as also just before the end, occur the words, يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ ya Bani Isra’il (0 children of Israel) -the repetition is, of course, the usual rhetorical device for making the speech persuasive.
Isra’il is a Hebrew word, signifying ‘the servant of Allah’; it is also the second name of Sayyidna Ya` qub (Jacob) (علیہ السلام) . Certain scholars have remarked that among the prophets it is the Holy Prophet ﷺ alone who has several names, except for Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) who has two names, Ya` qub and Isra’il. The Holy Qur’an addresses the Jews here, not as the “Children of Ya` qub”, but as the “Children of Isra’il”, so that the title may remind them that they are the children of the ‘the servant of Allah’, and hence they should follow the example of their father in worshipping Allah alone and in obeying Him.
In verse 40, Allah asks the Israelites to fulfill His covenant – that is to say, the one they had made with Allah. According to Qatadah قتادہ and Mujahid مجاہد ، the following verse of the Holy Qur’an refers to this covenant which had been mentioned in Torah توراة as well (For the Covenant, see Exodus, ch. XXXIV) (165):
وَلَقَدْ أَخَذَ اللَّـهُ مِيثَاقَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَبَعَثْنَا مِنْهُمُ اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ نَقِيبًا ۖ وَقَالَ اللَّـهُ إِنِّي مَعَكُمْ ۖ لَئِنْ أَقَمْتُمُ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَيْتُمُ الزَّكَاةَ وَآمَنتُم بِرُسُلِي وَعَزَّرْتُمُوهُمْ وَأَقْرَضْتُمُ اللَّـهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا لَّأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَلَأُدْخِلَنَّكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ Allah made a covenant with the children of Isra’il, and We raised up from among them twelve chieftains. And Allah said, ‘I am with you. Surely, if you perform the prayer, and pay the alms, and believe in My messengers and help them, and lend to Allah a good loan, I will forgive your evil deeds, and I will admit you to gardens underneath which rivers flow’ (5:12).
The covenant mentions acts like prayers and alms, but the most important clause is having faith in all the messengers of Allah including the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Hence, according to the blessed Companion Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، the covenant here signifies having faith in and obeying the Holy Prophet ﷺ (See Ibn Jarir).
As for Allah fulfilling their covenant, the verse we have just quoted (5:12) makes the meaning clear – Allah will forgive the sins of those who fulfill the terms of the covenant, and will admit them to Paradise. Verse 41 makes it quite explicit that according to the covenant it is obligatory for the Israelites to have faith in the Holy Qur’an, for, after all, it has been sent down to confirm the essential teachings of the Torah. Now, the Israelite scholars were afraid that if they told the truth in this matter, they would be going against the public sentiment, and thus lose their adherents and income both. So, these three verses exhort them to speak the truth without fear, for Allah alone is worthy of being feared.19
19. Let us add that what the Holy Qur’an confirms with regard to the Torah and the Evangile is the fact that they are the Books of Allah. As for the distortions which have from time to time been introduced into them, they are no part of the original texts, and hence the question of confirming such interpolated passages does not arise.
Injunctions and related considerations
(1) Al-Qurtubi remarks in his Commentary that Allah, in asking the Israelites to worship and obey Him, reminds them of the bounties and blessings He has showered on them, but in the case of the followers of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . He asks them to do so without mentioning His bounties: فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ : “Remember Me, I will remember you.” (2:152)
This is a subtle suggestion which brings out the superiority of this Ummah over the others – the Islamic Ummah has a direct relationship with Allah, for it begins by recognizing the Benefactor, and through this knowledge recognizes His bounties; other peoples, on the contrary, begin by recognizing the bounties, and proceed through this medium to a knowledge of the Benefactor.
(2) Verse 40 shows that it is obligatory to fulfill the agreement one has entered into, and it is forbidden to break one’s promise. The injunction has been stated explicitly in another verse: أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ : “Fulfill your agreements.” (5:1)
According to a hadith reported by Muslim, those who break their promises would, before being finally punished in the other world, be humiliated before the whole human race when it assembles together on the Day of Judgment, for a flag would be placed as a stigma beside everyone who has committed this sin, and the bigger the crime, the higher would the flag be.