Overview (Verses 83 - 86)

Going Back on Firm Pledges

The sūrah tells the Muslims more about the nature of the Jews and their crooked and devious ways while, at the same time, confronting the Jews themselves with these revelations.

We made this covenant with the Children of Israel: “Worship none but God; show kindness to parents and kinsfolk and to the orphans and the poor; speak kindly to all people; attend regularly to your prayers and pay the obligatory alms.’ But, except for a few, you turned away and paid no heed. We made a covenant with you that you shall not shed your own blood or drive yourselves out of your own homeland. You acknowledged all that and bore witness to it. Yet there you are, slaying yourselves, and driving some of your own people out of their homes, collaborating against them in sin and injustice. Had they come to you as captives you would have ransomed them. Their expulsion is indeed forbidden to you. Do you, then, believe in some parts of the Scriptures and deny others? Those of you who do this will have nothing for their reward other than ignominy in this life and, on the Day of Resurrection, they shall be committed to a most grievous suffering. For God is not unaware of what you do. (Verses 83-85)

Reference has already been made to God’s covenant with the Israelites, and here we learn of more details of this covenant.

Right at the outset, we learn that the covenant between God and the Israelites contained the fundamental and absolute tenets of Divine faith that were subsequently confirmed by Islam, which the Jews chose to oppose and deny.

It required that the Israelites submit to, and worship God, other than whom there is no deity. It advocated kindness to parents, relatives, orphans and the poor in society. It urged courtesy towards others, especially in teaching and preaching to them about right and wrong, good and evil. Furthermore, the covenant enjoined upon the Israelites the observance of regular prayer and the giving of alms; all of which are, indeed, the very basic principles and obligations set by Islam.

This leads to two definite conclusions. First, God’s religion is one and the same throughout human history; its last version, Islam, confirms and endorses the fundamentals of all preceding ones. Second, there is no doubt about the arrogance and obstinacy of the Jews towards this universal religion of God and their refusal to acknowledge it, despite the fact that it advocated the same principles as their covenant with God.

The sūrah then turns to address the Israelites directly, highlighting the inherent contradiction in their attitude. It goes on to point out further contradictions between their present attitude and the terms of their covenant with God: “We made a covenant with you that you shall not shed your own blood or drive yourselves out of your own homeland. You acknowledged all that and bore witness to it.” (Verse 84)

But what have they done after that? “Yet there you are, slaying yourselves, and driving some of your own people out of their homes, collaborating against them in sin and injustice. Had they come to you as captives you would have ransomed them. Their expulsion is indeed forbidden to you. Do you, then, believe in some parts of the Scriptures and deny others? Those of you who do this will have nothing for their reward other than ignominy in this life and, on the Day of Resurrection, they shall be committed to a most grievous suffering. For God is not unaware of what you do.” (Verse 85)

The sūrah is referring here to events that had occurred shortly before the advent of Islam. The city of Madinah was inhabited by two major Arab tribes, the Aws and the Khazraj, who had no formal religious beliefs of their own and worshipped various deities. They were bitter rivals, constantly at loggerheads. The Jews had settled in three well-defined areas of Madinah and made various agreements with their Arab neighbours from both tribes. The Jewish tribes of Qaynuqā` and al-Nadīr allied themselves with the Khazraj tribe, while the Qurayżah allied itself with the Aws. Whenever war broke out between the two major Arab tribes, the Jewish inhabitants would side with their respective allies, so that Jew killed Jew, in complete violation of their covenant with God. Jews would drive other Jews out of their homes, loot their possessions and take their women. As soon as hostilities ceased, Jews on both sides would hurry to exchange Jewish captives or buy their freedom, in fulfilment of the Torah teachings.

The contradiction underlying this behaviour is exposed and the Jews are strongly reproached: “Do you, then, believe in some parts of the Scriptures and deny others?” (Verse 85) This is the very violation of their covenant for which they are given a very stern warning: “Those of you who do this will have nothing for their reward other than ignominy in this life and, on the Day of Resurrection, they shall be committed to a most grievous suffering. For God is not unaware of what you do.” (Verse 85)

The sūrah then addresses the Muslims, and mankind in general:

“Such are the ones who buy the life of this world at the price of the life to come. Their suffering shall not be alleviated, nor shall they receive any succour.” (Verse 86)

The motive behind their bartering away the life to come, and its rewards, for temporal gain in this life, in stark violation of their covenant with God, was their eagerness to fulfil the unholy alliances they had forged with the Arab idolaters, in contradiction to the teachings of their Scriptures. Siding with both rival camps at the same time was typical of the Jews of that time, consistent with their age- old policy of holding both ends of the stick and placing two-way bets on events in order to secure some gains and protect certain interests, whichever camp ends up the winner.

Such hypocrisy and cynical manipulation on the part of the Israelites betray a deep-seated mistrust of God Almighty and a lack of faith in His covenant with them. They undermine the very foundations of their belief in God and His powers, and expose their actions as driven wholly by materialistic self-interest, in total disregard for the precepts and teachings of their Scriptures.

Overview (Verses 83 - 86)

Going Back on Firm Pledges

The sūrah tells the Muslims more about the nature of the Jews and their crooked and devious ways while, at the same time, confronting the Jews themselves with these revelations.

We made this covenant with the Children of Israel: “Worship none but God; show kindness to parents and kinsfolk and to the orphans and the poor; speak kindly to all people; attend regularly to your prayers and pay the obligatory alms.’ But, except for a few, you turned away and paid no heed. We made a covenant with you that you shall not shed your own blood or drive yourselves out of your own homeland. You acknowledged all that and bore witness to it. Yet there you are, slaying yourselves, and driving some of your own people out of their homes, collaborating against them in sin and injustice. Had they come to you as captives you would have ransomed them. Their expulsion is indeed forbidden to you. Do you, then, believe in some parts of the Scriptures and deny others? Those of you who do this will have nothing for their reward other than ignominy in this life and, on the Day of Resurrection, they shall be committed to a most grievous suffering. For God is not unaware of what you do. (Verses 83-85)

Reference has already been made to God’s covenant with the Israelites, and here we learn of more details of this covenant.

Right at the outset, we learn that the covenant between God and the Israelites contained the fundamental and absolute tenets of Divine faith that were subsequently confirmed by Islam, which the Jews chose to oppose and deny.

It required that the Israelites submit to, and worship God, other than whom there is no deity. It advocated kindness to parents, relatives, orphans and the poor in society. It urged courtesy towards others, especially in teaching and preaching to them about right and wrong, good and evil. Furthermore, the covenant enjoined upon the Israelites the observance of regular prayer and the giving of alms; all of which are, indeed, the very basic principles and obligations set by Islam.

This leads to two definite conclusions. First, God’s religion is one and the same throughout human history; its last version, Islam, confirms and endorses the fundamentals of all preceding ones. Second, there is no doubt about the arrogance and obstinacy of the Jews towards this universal religion of God and their refusal to acknowledge it, despite the fact that it advocated the same principles as their covenant with God.

The sūrah then turns to address the Israelites directly, highlighting the inherent contradiction in their attitude. It goes on to point out further contradictions between their present attitude and the terms of their covenant with God: “We made a covenant with you that you shall not shed your own blood or drive yourselves out of your own homeland. You acknowledged all that and bore witness to it.” (Verse 84)

But what have they done after that? “Yet there you are, slaying yourselves, and driving some of your own people out of their homes, collaborating against them in sin and injustice. Had they come to you as captives you would have ransomed them. Their expulsion is indeed forbidden to you. Do you, then, believe in some parts of the Scriptures and deny others? Those of you who do this will have nothing for their reward other than ignominy in this life and, on the Day of Resurrection, they shall be committed to a most grievous suffering. For God is not unaware of what you do.” (Verse 85)

The sūrah is referring here to events that had occurred shortly before the advent of Islam. The city of Madinah was inhabited by two major Arab tribes, the Aws and the Khazraj, who had no formal religious beliefs of their own and worshipped various deities. They were bitter rivals, constantly at loggerheads. The Jews had settled in three well-defined areas of Madinah and made various agreements with their Arab neighbours from both tribes. The Jewish tribes of Qaynuqā` and al-Nadīr allied themselves with the Khazraj tribe, while the Qurayżah allied itself with the Aws. Whenever war broke out between the two major Arab tribes, the Jewish inhabitants would side with their respective allies, so that Jew killed Jew, in complete violation of their covenant with God. Jews would drive other Jews out of their homes, loot their possessions and take their women. As soon as hostilities ceased, Jews on both sides would hurry to exchange Jewish captives or buy their freedom, in fulfilment of the Torah teachings.

The contradiction underlying this behaviour is exposed and the Jews are strongly reproached: “Do you, then, believe in some parts of the Scriptures and deny others?” (Verse 85) This is the very violation of their covenant for which they are given a very stern warning: “Those of you who do this will have nothing for their reward other than ignominy in this life and, on the Day of Resurrection, they shall be committed to a most grievous suffering. For God is not unaware of what you do.” (Verse 85)

The sūrah then addresses the Muslims, and mankind in general:

“Such are the ones who buy the life of this world at the price of the life to come. Their suffering shall not be alleviated, nor shall they receive any succour.” (Verse 86)

The motive behind their bartering away the life to come, and its rewards, for temporal gain in this life, in stark violation of their covenant with God, was their eagerness to fulfil the unholy alliances they had forged with the Arab idolaters, in contradiction to the teachings of their Scriptures. Siding with both rival camps at the same time was typical of the Jews of that time, consistent with their age- old policy of holding both ends of the stick and placing two-way bets on events in order to secure some gains and protect certain interests, whichever camp ends up the winner.

Such hypocrisy and cynical manipulation on the part of the Israelites betray a deep-seated mistrust of God Almighty and a lack of faith in His covenant with them. They undermine the very foundations of their belief in God and His powers, and expose their actions as driven wholly by materialistic self-interest, in total disregard for the precepts and teachings of their Scriptures.