Surah al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2 : 63
Translations
Pickthall
Yusuf Ali
Qur'an Dictionary
Click word/image to view Qur'an Dictionary | ||
---|---|---|
Word | Arabic word | |
(2:63:1) wa-idh And when |
||
(2:63:2) akhadhnā We took |
||
(2:63:3) mīthāqakum your covenant |
||
(2:63:4) warafaʿnā and We raised |
||
(2:63:5) fawqakumu over you |
||
(2:63:6) l-ṭūra the mount |
||
(2:63:7) khudhū Hold |
||
(2:63:8) |
||
(2:63:9) ātaynākum We have given you |
||
(2:63:10) biquwwatin with strength |
||
(2:63:11) wa-udh'kurū and remember |
||
(2:63:12) |
||
(2:63:13) |
||
(2:63:14) |
||
(2:63:15) tattaqūna (would become) righteous |
Explanatory Note
The sūrah continues to recall to the Jews of Madinah incidents from the history of their forefathers. “We accepted your solemn pledge and raised Mount Sinai above you, saying, ‘Take with firmness and strength what We have given you, and bear in mind all its contents, so that you may remain God-fearing.’ Yet after that you turned away, and but for Gods grace and mercy you would have surely been among the losers.”
Details of the ‘pledge’ are given later on in this sūrah and elsewhere in the Qur’ān. The emphasis here is on recalling the scene, in words that well suit the awesome atmosphere in which the covenant was delivered, and lend particular stress to the solemnity and significance of the occasion. God’s covenant with the Israelites was not a matter that could be taken lightly; no half-heartedness, equivocation or wavering. It is the most momentous, gravest enterprise that can be contracted between God and man, and it carries a heavy responsibility indeed. Those chosen to give such a pledge must have total determination and devotion to be able to fulfil its obligations. The Israelites are therefore told: “Take with firmness and strength what We have given you, and bear in mind all its contents, so that you may remain God fearing.”
When Prophet Muĥammad was assigned prophethood he said to his wife Khadījah, “There is no longer any time for relaxation”, for he had already been told in the Qur’ān: “We are about to address you with grave and weighty words.” (73: 5)
Having given their pledge, it was essential that the Israelites should understand its implications, appreciate its reality and prepare to meet its demands. What is particularly important is that there should be no short-lived enthusiasm. Such a pledge means, in essence, a whole new way of life for them. As they go about implementing it, it generates new feelings, establishes a new system and observes a new morality. The end result is an attitude based on fearing God, always remembering that He sees us and knows our feelings and motives.
- المراد بالقوة الجد والاجتهاد وعدم التكاسل والتغافل. الألوسي: 1/281 [Be the first to translate this...]
Practical Lessons
- على المسلم أن يتمسك بدينه بقوة، وأن لا يكون سريع التنازل عن شيءٍ منه أمام الأحداث والمصائب، ﴿ خُذُوا۟ مَآ ءَاتَيْنَٰكُم بِقُوَّةٍ [Be the first to translate this...]
Meeythaaq – Wathaq – a promise which comes with alot of responsibility. You are informed with full information of what you need to do – then you get into it.
Similar words; ‘Aqd ‘Ahd
Dhikr = Remember, Mention
3. Surah Overview
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].
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, Islam 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 Quran 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]
10. Wiki Forum
11. Tafsir Zone
|
Ibn Kathir (English)
Sayyid Qutb
Sha'rawi
Al Jalalain
Mawdudi
الطبري - جامع البيان
ابن كثير - تفسير القرآن العظيم
القرطبي - الجامع لأحكام
البغوي - معالم التنزيل
ابن أبي حاتم الرازي - تفسير القرآن
ابن عاشور - التحرير والتنوير
ابن القيم - تفسير ابن قيّم
السيوطي - الدر المنثور
الشنقيطي - أضواء البيان
ابن الجوزي - زاد المسير
الآلوسي - روح المعاني
ابن عطية - المحرر الوجيز
الرازي - مفاتيح الغيب
أبو السعود - إرشاد العقل السليم
الزمخشري - الكشاف
البقاعي - نظم الدرر
الهداية إلى بلوغ النهاية — مكي ابن أبي طالب
القاسمي - محاسن التأويل
الماوردي - النكت والعيون
السعدي - تيسير الكريم الرحمن
عبد الرحمن الثعالبي - الجواهر الحسان
السمرقندي - بحر العلوم
أبو إسحاق الثعلبي - الكشف والبيان
الشوكاني - فتح القدير
النيسابوري - التفسير البسيط
أبو حيان - البحر المحيط
البيضاوي - أنوار التنزيل
النسفي - مدارك التنزيل
ابن جُزَيّ - التسهيل لعلوم التنزيل
علي الواحدي النيسابوري - الوجيز
السيوطي - تفسير الجلالين
المختصر في التفسير — مركز تفسير
|
|