Surah al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2 : 99

وَلَقَدْ أَنزَلْنَآ إِلَيْكَ ءَايَٰتٍۭ بَيِّنَٰتٍ ۖ وَمَا يَكْفُرُ بِهَآ إِلَّا ٱلْفَٰسِقُونَ

Translations

 
 Muhsin Khan
 Pickthall
 Yusuf Ali
Quran Project
And We have certainly revealed to you verses [which are] clear proofs, and no one would deny them except the defiantly disobedient.

1. Lessons/Guidance/Reflections/Gems

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Explanatory Note

The sūrah then turns to reassure Prophet Muĥammad of the truth and validity of the revelations he had received, and to denounce those who reject or oppose his message. It specifically condemns the Israelites for not living up to their promises and commitments, whether made to God or to their own prophets, or to Muĥammad himself. That is manifest in their rejection of the Qur’ān, God’s final revelation to man, which endorsed and reinforced the revelations they already had. “We have sent down to you clear revelations: none will deny them except the evildoers. Is it always to be the case that every time they make a solemn pledge some of them will violate it? The truth is that most of them do not believe. And now that a Messenger from God has come to them, confirming what is already in their possession, some of those who had been given the Scriptures cast God’s Book behind their backs as though they know nothing.

Here, then, we have the real reason behind the Israelites’ rejection of God’s revelations; it is their sheer wickedness and the corruption of their souls. Normal, healthy human nature could not but acknowledge and embrace the truth and principles expounded by divine revelations. The compelling logic in such revelations cannot fail to impress the human heart and mind. The fact that the Jews, or any other people for that matter, have refused to believe divine revelations is not a criticism of the validity or veracity of such revelations, but rather a reflection of those people’s perverted and corrupt nature.

  • Ibn Kathir wrote, "These Ayat are contained in the Book of Allah (Qur'an) which narrates the secrets of the knowledge that the Jews possess, which they hid, and the stories of their earlier generations. The Book of Allah also mentions the texts in the Books of the Jews that are known to only the rabbis and scholars, and the sections where they altered and distorted the rulings of the Tawrah. Since Allah mentioned all of this in His Book revealed to His Prophet Muhammad, then this fact alone should be enough evidence for those who are truthful with themselves and who wish to avoid bringing themselves to destruction due to envy and transgression. Further human instict testifies to the truth that Muhammad was sent with and the clear signs that he brought which he did not learn or acquire from mankind.”  

2. Linguistic Analysis

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Frequency of Root words in this Ayat used in this Surah *


3. Surah Overview

4. Miscellaneous Information

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5. Connected/Related Ayat

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  • Both Prophet Muhammad and Musa had ءَايَٰتٍۭ بَيِّنَٰتٍ clear proofs given to them. 7 Ayat before this Ayat, (2:99), Allah says,

     وَلَقَدْ جَاءَكُم مُّوسَىٰ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ ثُمَّ اتَّخَذْتُمُ الْعِجْلَ مِن بَعْدِهِ وَأَنتُمْ ظَالِمُونَ "And Moses had certainly brought you clear proofs. Then you took the calf [in worship] after that, while you were wrongdoers." (2:92) 

6. Frequency of the word

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7. Period of Revelation

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The scholars are unanimous that Surah al-Baqarah is Madani and that it was the first Surah revealed in Madinah. [Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Fath al-Bari no. 160/8].

Despite it being the first Surah to be revealed in Madinah, it contains Ayaat from a later period also. In fact, according to Ibn Abbas [as mentioned in Ibn Kathir] the last Ayat revealed to the Prophet was Ayat no. 281 from Surah al-Baqarah and this occurred 8 days or so before his death [which corresponds to the year 11 Hijri].

8. Reasons for Revelation

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In order to understand the meaning of this Surah, we should know its historical background:

1. At Makkah, the Quran generally addressed the polytheist Quraysh who were ignorant of Islam, but at Madinah it was also concerned with the Jews who were acquainted with the creed of Monotheism, Prophethood, Revelation, the Hereafter and Angels. They also professed to believe in the law which was revealed by God to their Prophet Moses, and in principle, their way was the same (Islam) that was being taught by Prophet Muhammad. But they had strayed away from it during the centuries of degeneration and had adopted many un-Islamic creeds, rites and customs of which there was no mention and for which there was no sanction in the Torah. Not only this: they had tampered with the Torah by inserting their own explanations and interpretations into its text. They had distorted even that part of the Word of God which had remained intact in their Scriptures and taken out of it the real spirit of true religion and were now clinging to a lifeless frame of rituals. Consequently their beliefs, their morals and their conduct had gone to the lowest depths of degeneration. The pity is that they were not only satisfied with their condition but loved to cling to it. Besides this, they had no intention or inclination to accept any kind of reform. So they became bitter enemies of those who came to teach them the Right Way and did their utmost to defeat every such effort. Though they were originally Muslims, they had swerved from the real Islam and made innovations and alterations in it and had fallen victims to hair splitting and sectarianism. They had forgotten and forsaken God and begun to serve material wealth. So much so that they had even given up their original name “Muslim” and adopted the name “Jew” instead, and made religion the sole monopoly of the children of Israel. This was their religious condition when the Prophet went to Madinah and invited the Jews to the true religion. That is why more than one third of this Surah has been addressed to the children of Israel. A critical review of their history, their moral degeneration and their religious perversions has been made. Side by side with this, the high standard of morality and the fundamental principles of the pure religion have been put forward in order to bring out clearly the nature of the degeneration of the community of a prophet when it goes astray and to draw clear lines of demarcation between real piety and formalism, and the essentials and non-essentials of the true religion.

2. At Makkah, Islam was mainly concerned with the propagation of its fundamental principles and the moral training of its followers. But after the migration of the Prophet to Madinah, where Muslims had come to settle from all over Arabia and where a tiny Islamic State had been set up with the help of the ‘local supporters’ (Ansar), naturally the Quran had to turn its attention to the social, cultural, economic, political and legal problems as well. This accounts for the difference between the themes of the Surahs revealed at Makkah and those at Madinah. Accordingly about half of this Surah deals with those principles and regulations which are essential for the integration and solidarity of a community and for the solution of its problems.

After the migration to Madinah, the struggle between Islam and disbelief (Kufr) had also entered a new phase. Before this the Believers, who propagated Islam among their own clans and tribes, had to face its opponents at their own risk. But the conditions had changed at Madinah, where Muslims from all parts of Arabia had come and settled as one community, and had established an independent city state. Here it became a struggle for the survival of the Community itself, for the whole of non-Muslim Arabia was bent upon and united in crushing it totally. Hence the following instructions, upon which depended not only its success but its very survival, were revealed in this Surah:

a. The Community should work with the utmost zeal to propagate its ideology and win over to its side the greatest possible number of people.

b. It should so expose its opponents as to leave no room for doubt in the mind of any sensible person that they were adhering to an absolutely wrong position.

c. It should infuse in its members (the majority of whom were homeless and indigent and surrounded on all sides by enemies) that courage and fortitude which is so indispensable to their very existence in the adverse circumstances in which they were struggling and to prepare them to face these boldly.

d. It should also keep them ready and prepared to meet any armed menace, which might come from any side to suppress and crush their ideology, and to oppose it tooth and nail without minding the overwhelming numerical strength and the material resources of its enemies.

e. It should also create in them that courage which is needed for the eradication of evil ways and for the establishment of the Islamic Way instead. That is why God has revealed in this Surah such instructions as may help achieve all the above mentioned objects.

At the time of the revelation of Al-Baqarah, all sorts of hypocrites had begun to appear. God has, therefore, briefly pointed out their characteristics here. Afterwards when their evil characteristics and mischievous deeds became manifest, God sent detailed instructions about them. [REF: Mawdudi]

9. Relevant Hadith

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10. Wiki Forum

Comments in this section are statements made by general users – these are not necessarily explanations of the Ayah – rather a place to share personal thoughts and stories…

11. Tafsir Zone

 

Overview (Verses 99 - 101)

Casting God’s Revelations Away
 

The sūrah then turns to reassure Prophet Muĥammad of the truth and validity of the revelations he had received, and to denounce those who reject or oppose his message. It specifically condemns the Israelites for not living up to their promises and commitments, whether made to God or to their own prophets, or to Muĥammad himself. That is manifest in their rejection of the Qur’ān, God’s final revelation to man, which endorsed and reinforced the revelations they already had. “We have sent down to you clear revelations: none will deny them except the evildoers. Is it always to be the case that every time they make a solemn pledge some of them will violate it? The truth is that most of them do not believe. And now that a Messenger from God has come to them, confirming what is already in their possession, some of those who had been given the Scriptures cast God’s Book behind their backs as though they know nothing.” (Verses 99-101)
 

Here, then, we have the real reason behind the Israelites’ rejection of God’s revelations; it is their sheer wickedness and the corruption of their souls. Normal, healthy human nature could not but acknowledge and embrace the truth and principles expounded by divine revelations. The compelling logic in such revelations cannot fail to impress the human heart and mind. The fact that the Jews, or any other people for that matter, have refused to believe divine revelations is not a criticism of the validity or veracity of such revelations, but rather a reflection of those people’s perverted and corrupt nature.
 
The sūrah then makes a public condemnation of the Jews, exposing their inconsistency and insincerity and showing them as a fragmented community with no unity or identity of purpose, despite their racial prejudice against others. Their chauvinism, ethnocentricity and their jealousy of any other favoured community did not stop them from being divided among themselves and mistrustful of each other. Whatever treaty or agreement they make with any other people, some of them are bound to break ranks and violate it.
 
This was evident when they broke the covenant God made with them at Mount Sinai, and in their reneging on pledges given to their prophets and patriarchs, as well as in their breach of the treaty they had with the Prophet Muĥammad and the Muslims, when he first arrived to settle in Madinah. That agreement provided for a framework of peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Jews, but the Jews were quick to undermine the new faith, lending support to the Prophet’s enemies and sowing the seeds of strife and discord within the Muslim community in Madinah.
 
This is a well-known characteristic of the Israelites. In contrast, the lives of Muslims, as described by the Prophet Muĥammad “are of equal worth. All Muslims stand united against any hostile party. Even the weakest among them speaks on their behalf and honours their commitments.” No Muslim would break a promise made by another on behalf of the whole community. Abū `Ubaydah, the commander of a Muslim army, once wrote to the Caliph `Umar ibn al-Khaţţāb, seeking advice concerning one of his soldiers, a slave, who had given a pledge of security to the citizens of a town in Iraq. The Caliph wrote back, saying, “God has praised the honouring of pledges very highly and you would not be faithful to your commitments unless you honour them. Therefore, you must honour your pledge to these people and leave them in peace.” Such is the behaviour of a magnanimous, united and straightforward community — a far cry from that of those perfidious and conniving Jews.
 
“And now that a Messenger from God has come to them confirming what is already in their possession, some of those who had been given the Scriptures cast God’s Book behind their backs as though they know nothing.” (Verse 101) This is further evidence that every time the Israelites made a commitment, some of them reneged on it. Their covenant with God stipulated that they would accept, believe and support every messenger He sent, but some of them rejected the Qur’ān revealed by God to Muĥammad, which in fact amounted to rejecting their own Scriptures, since it endorsed and confirmed those Scriptures.
 
The verse is loaded with stinging sarcasm, castigating the very recipients of divine revelations for rejecting similar revelations simply because these have been given to someone else.
 
Had such a stance been adopted by the pagan Arabs, it would perhaps have been understandable. The Jews had the privilege of receiving divine messages and messengers and were presumed well versed in religious guidance and experience. Yet, as the verse very graphically puts it, they cast God’s new revelations “behind their backs”. They carelessly and recklessly rejected it out of hand. They closed their minds to it and discounted it from their life and thought.
 


12. External Links

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