The Heifer (Al-Baqarah)
Verses 84-86 GROUP_20 2.84-86
84
وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَكُمْ لاَ تَسْفِكُونَ دِمَاءكُمْ وَلاَ تُخْرِجُونَ أَنفُسَكُم مِّن دِيَارِكُمْ ثُمَّ أَقْرَرْتُمْ وَأَنتُمْ تَشْهَدُونَ
When We made a covenant with you, We said, ‘You shall not shed each other’s blood, nor turn your people out of their homes.’ You consented to this and bore witness.
85
ثُمَّ أَنتُمْ هَـؤُلاء تَقْتُلُونَ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَتُخْرِجُونَ فَرِيقاً مِّنكُم مِّن دِيَارِهِمْ تَظَاهَرُونَ عَلَيْهِم بِالإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ وَإِن يَأتُوكُمْ أُسَارَى تُفَادُوهُمْ وَهُوَ مُحَرَّمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ إِخْرَاجُهُمْ أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ الْكِتَابِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ فَمَا جَزَاء مَن يَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ مِنكُمْ إِلاَّ خِزْيٌ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَى أَشَدِّ الْعَذَابِ وَمَا اللّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
Yet, here you are, slaying one another and driving some of your own people from their homelands, aiding one another against them, committing sin and aggression; but if they came to you as captives, you would ransom them. Surely their very expulsion was unlawful for you. Do you believe in one part of the Book and deny another part of it? Those of you who act thus shall be rewarded with disgrace in this world and with a severe punishment on the Day of Resurrection. God is never unaware of what you do.
86
أُولَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ اشْتَرَوُاْ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا بِالآَخِرَةِ فَلاَ يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابُ وَلاَ هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ
Such are they who buy the life of this world at the price of the Hereafter. Their punishment shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be helped.
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Commentary
(a) Before the advent of Islam, three Jewish tribes inhabited the area around Madinah: the Banu Nadir, the Banu Qurayzah, and the Banu Qaynuqa‘. Despite the fact that all of them adhered to Mosaic law, ignorant prejudices had divided them into two groups. They had become enmeshed, along with the polytheist tribes of Madinah—al-Aws and the Khazraj—in political manoeuvering. The Banu Nadir and the Banu Qurayzah had aligned themselves with the Aws tribe, and the Banu Qaynuqa‘ with the Khazraj. Divided into two camps in this manner, the three Jewish tribes were constantly at war with one another. The basic teachings of Islamic law demand the total renunciation of pagan ways, the suppressing of one’s selfish desires and the controlling of one’s worldly needs— that is why the commands of Islamic law are ignored in politics. Obedience to them would bring about true piety, but people do not like to involve themselves in such arduous practices. They prefer to put on a pretence of piety by conducting certain superficial rituals. This is tantamount to issuing a self-made edition of divine religion; it is to disregard the Hereafter and attach importance to the worldly aspect of religion in the hope that zeal in performing actions which promise worldly fame and honour will qualify them for the reward reserved for true piety. But such brazen distortion of religion can only earn one God’s wrath; it does not merit any reward from God.