Surah al-A`raf (The Elevated Places) 7 : 161

Overview (Verses 161 - 162)

Response to God’s Care

How did the Children of Israel respond to God’s care? What steps did they take on the long road pointed out to them? “It was said to them: Dwell in this city and eat of its food whatever you may wish, and say: “Lord, relieve us of our burden,” and enter the gate in humility. We will forgive you your sins, and We will richly reward those who do good.’ But the wrongdoers among them substituted other words for those which they had been given. Therefore We let loose against them a scourge from heaven in requital for their wrongdoing.” (Verses 161-162)

God forgave them their sin of worshipping the calf, and He also forgave them after they were seized by the trembling when they were on the mountain. He has given them all His blessings; yet again their nature takes them away from the straight path. Again they disobey and change God’s words. They are told to enter a particular city, the name of which is not given in the Qur’ān because knowing its name does not add to the significance of the story, and God makes lawful for them all its fruits and provisions, provided that as they enter they say a particular supplication and prostrate themselves on entry. That last gesture was required as a declaration of their submission to God at the time of victory when they felt very powerful, just as the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prostrated himself many centuries later, on the back of his camel, when Makkah fell to Islam. In return for their obedience, God promised to forgive them their sins and to increase the reward of those among them who did well. But why would they disobey? There is no explanation other than the fact that deviation was in their nature: “But the wrongdoers among them substituted other words for those which they had been given.” (Verse 162)

At this point, God let loose against them a scourge from heaven. It was the same heaven from which He sent down manna and quails, and which carried the clouds that gave them shade and comfort: “Therefore We let loose against them a scourge from heaven in requital for their wrongdoing.” (Verse 162) Thus, the fact that a group of them disbelieved constituted what is termed in the Qur’ān as ‘wronging themselves’ and made them liable to God’s punishment. The Qur’ān does not tell us exactly the nature of the suffering to which they were subjected, because the purpose of this account is achieved without specifying it. All that is needed here is to explain that disobedience entails the enforcement of the threats, giving the guilty their fair punishment.