The Heifer (Al-Baqarah)
Verses 26-29 GROUP_7 2.26-29
26
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَسْتَحْيِي أَن يَضْرِبَ مَثَلاً مَّا بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ فَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ فَيَقُولُونَ مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَـذَا مَثَلاً يُضِلُّ بِهِ كَثِيراً وَيَهْدِي بِهِ كَثِيراً وَمَا يُضِلُّ بِهِ إِلاَّ الْفَاسِقِينَ
God does not disdain to give a parable about a gnat or a smaller creature. The faithful know that it is the truth from their Lord, but those who deny the truth ask, ‘What could God mean by this parable?’ He lets many go astray through it, and guides many by it. But He makes only the disobedient go astray:
27
الَّذِينَ يَنقُضُونَ عَهْدَ اللَّهِ مِن بَعْدِ مِيثَاقِهِ وَيَقْطَعُونَ مَا أَمَرَ اللَّهُ بِهِ أَن يُوصَلَ وَيُفْسِدُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ أُولَـئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ
those who break God’s covenant after they have pledged to keep it, and sever whatever God has ordered to be joined, and spread corruption in the land—it is they who are the losers.
28
كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَاتاً فَأَحْيَاكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
How can you disbelieve in God when you were dead [lifeless] and He gave you life? He will let you die once more, then bring you back to life again, whereupon you will be returned to Him.
29
هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الأَرْضِ جَمِيعاً ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى إِلَى السَّمَاء فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ
It is He who created everything on the earth for you: then He turned towards heaven and fashioned it into the seven heavens. He has knowledge of all things.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) Man’s first duty to God is to be true to the covenant made between the Creator and His creatures at the beginning of the world, namely, that man should remain God’s servant. Then, his conduct towards his fellow men should be such that all the ties that God has enjoined man to keep may be consolidated. Thirdly, man should not turn people away from following the divine call raised by one of God’s servants by inventing groundless arguments against it. The message of truth seeks to harmonize man with his own nature: those who prevent others from receiving it are guilty of spreading corruption in the land. God has created man from nothing. This is a favour great enough to make man completely surrender himself to God. But God has not just created man and left it at that: He has given him an earth made to suit his needs perfectly. But there is more to the matter than merely this. Immediately after his demise, he will be brought before the Lord of the Universe to be judged. This state of affairs demands that he devote himself entirely to God; that he remember and obey God throughout his life, forever remaining His humble servant. When the divine message is so clear and reasonable, why do people not accept it? The chief cause is unwillingness to learn. This manifests itself in various ways: deliberate denigration of God’s message, attempts to belittle it by finding flaws in it, or misrepresenting it as irrational or concerned with mere trivialities. One who is not willing to learn from sound advice does not think seriously about it. When some argument is presented to him, he looks at it superficially and sets about finding some shortcomings in it. But those who are willing to learn take the trouble to give those arguments serious thought and they do not take long to realize that they are faced with the truth. It does not make any difference to them that the truth has been explained in parables of mere gnats, and other equally insignificant creatures.