Surah al-Ma'idah (The Table) 5 : 22

Overview (Verses 22- 26)

A Typically Cowardly Attitude
 
The Israelite nature appears here unmasked, without cosmetics. They were facing danger and, therefore, all attempts to put on a brave face were abandoned. Not even God’s promise to them to make this land theirs was sufficient to motivate them. They wanted an easier prize, without having to pay any price. It should come to them from heaven just as manna and quails were sent down for them to eat. “Mighty people dwell in that land, and we will surely not enter it unless they depart from it. If they do depart, then we will enter” (Verse 22)
 
Victory, however, does not come in this manner as the Jews wanted when they were devoid of faith: “Thereupon two men who were God- fearing and on whom God had bestowed His grace said: ‘Go in upon them through the gate. As soon as you enter it, you shall be victorious. In God you should place your trust, if you are true believers.’” (Verse 23) The value of having faith and of being God-fearing appears very clearly. These were two men who feared God, and being God-fearing made them totally fearless when they confronted mighty people. They had all the courage needed to dispel the imaginary danger. They made this testimony, highlighting the importance of faith and the time of trial and difficulty. They wanted to show what it meant to fear God alone at times when people fear each other. God does not combine the two feelings of fear in any one man’s heart: fearing Him and fearing human beings. A person who fears God fears no one else.
 
“Go in upon them through the gate. As soon as you enter it, you shall be victorious.” (Verse 23) This is a basic rule in how to fight the enemy. The Jews are advised here to launch an offensive which takes them right through into the other people’s homes. Once they are in, the others will be demoralised while their own morale will be high indeed. Those attacked will suffer a total loss of confidence and the attackers will win.
 
“In God you should place your trust, if you are true believers.” (Verse 23) A believer relies on no one other than God. This is the distinctive mark and the correlative of faith. But who were these two men addressing them with these true words? They were after all addressing the Israelites. True to their nature, the Children of Israel said: “Moses, we will never go in so long as they are in it. Go forth, then, you and your Lord, and fight, both of you. We shall stay here.” (Verse 24)
 
Cowardly people are increasingly impudent. They start to kick around like donkeys but they never step forward. Often, cowardice and impudence go hand in hand. A cowardly person is reminded of his duty, but his strength fails him. His neglect of his duty embarrasses him and he abuses this duty as well as the message which imposes on him what he does not want.
 
“Go forth, then, you and your Lord and fight, both of you. We shall stay here.” (Verse 24) A perfect example of rudeness from weak people who realise that rudeness costs nothing but words. Fulfilment of their duty, on the other hand, requires them to fight in a real war. “Go forth, then, you and your Lord, both of you.” He is, then, not their Lord if his lordship means that they will have to fight. “We shall stay here.” We neither desire a kingdom, nor sovereignty, nor even the promised holy land, if it means that we will have to fight these mighty people.
 
This is now the end for Moses (peace be upon him) after the strenuous efforts he exerted with the Children of Israel and after bearing all impudence and deviation. The result was simply to turn back, to turn away from the holy land when they stood at its doors. This was a clear violation of the covenant they had made with God. But the covenant applied to Moses also. What should he do now? Whose help should he seek?
 
“Lord”, he said, I am master of none but myself and my brother. Do, then, draw a dividing line between us and these wrongdoing folk.” (Verse 25) This is a prayer uttered in pain. It is an appeal to God and one of total submission to Him. It also expresses total determination and a total break with those who disobeyed.
 
Moses was aware that God knew that he could not account for anyone other than himself and his brother. His are the feelings of weakness experienced by a person who has suffered a major letdown, the faith of a Prophet who spoke to God directly, the determination of an unshakable believer. He could not put his complaint to anyone other than God, to whom he prays to draw a dividing line between him and the evil-doers. Nothing could provide a link with them after they had abandoned their covenant with God. No relationship of family, ancestry, history or previous effort was of any significance. Their only relationship could be one of faith and the pledges they had given to God. As they breached them, then all relations had been severed. As for him, he was determined to fulfil his own promises to God, while they continued to do wrong.
 
This is the attitude of humble politeness shown by a Prophet and this is the action plan of a firm believer. The tie which could bring believers together was the tie of faith. Nationality, ancestry, race, language, history and all other ties known to mankind are of no significance when the tie of faith is severed.
 
God answered His Prophet’s prayer and pronounced His judgement of the wrongdoers: “This land shall, then, be forbidden to them for forty years, during which they will wander aimlessly on earth. Do not grieve for these wrongdoing folk.” (Verse 26) As they approached the holy land which God had promised them, He abandoned them to their aimless wandering. He forbade them the land He had assigned to them. The weightier view suggests that the land was forbidden to that particular generation of them, until a new generation came of age, aware of the lessons and strengthened by their upbringing in the desert. The first generation had long been used to subjugation and tyranny in Egypt. As such, it could not shoulder the tough responsibility. Tyranny and humiliation corrupt the nature of individuals as well as communities.
 
The sūrah stops at this point in their history to allow believers to reflect on the lessons learned. The Muslims also learned this tough lesson God relates to them. When they came face to face with difficulty and they were few in number confronting a mightier force of unbelievers in Badr, they said to their Prophet, Muĥammad (peace be upon him): “We will not say to you, Messenger of God, what the Israelites said to their Prophet, ‘Go forth, then, you and your Lord, and fight, both of you. We shall stay here.’ But we will say to you: Go forth, then, you and your Lord, and fight; we will fight alongside you.”
 
We see how the Qur’ānic method produces results in educating the Muslim community through relating stories from past generations of believers. We can also see what purpose is served by relating the history of the Children of Israel.