We will continue sharing notes from Surat Al-Baqarah. Todays notes on the Ayat 2:111,112,113
وَقَالُوا لَن يَدْخُلَ الْجَنَّةَ إِلَّا مَن كَانَ هُودًا أَوْ نَصَارَىٰ ۗ تِلْكَ أَمَانِيُّهُمْ ۗ قُلْ هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
And they say, "None will enter Paradise except one who is a Jew or a Christian." That is [merely] their wishful thinking, Say, "Produce your proof, if you should be truthful."
هُودًا --> comes from هآدى (haadaa) which means to go back, to return. Essentially Jews call themselves those who returned to God. This also refers to the kingdom of Judea.
نَصَارَىٰ comes from نصراني which comes from نُصرة which means aid. Quran makes reference to the حواريّون which the Bible refers to as disciples of Eesa (عليه السلام) and calls them the helpers of Eesa (عليه السلام). Another interesting source for the word نَصَارَىٰ is نصران which is a place - and in English it is called Nazareth. A common term to refer to Eesa (عليه السلام) is Jesus of Nazareth. By using this word, Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) is inviting them to think of their history.
أَمَانِي refers to hope that does not have any basis in reason. It is blind hope.
هَاتُوا means "hey! Bring!". It is tougher language as compared to "آتُوا" (which means bring). Some consider it as one word - not a conjugated verb. But it is rare.
Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) is challenging them to bring forward their evidences that they are exclusive!
Imam Tabari commenting on this ayah says: What Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) is saying here is that Jews say that nobody but Jews will go in Heaven - and Christians say that nobody but Christians will go to Heaven. This ayah structure implies that they both say at the same time that nobody except Jews and Christians are going to make it to Heaven.
But that interpretation creates a complexity because the Jews do not get along with Christians - they did kill Jesus (عليه السلام). The way to understand this is that the Jews and Christians are totally okay with anything OTHER than Islam. So what they are saying is essentially, "YOU'RE not going to Heaven! Any other can go!"
Since the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" thus they can join forces and take a united religious stance against Muslims.
Another point to note is that Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) calls this one single hope - plural! He calls them "their wishful thoughts". Why? Because this one false hope leads to multiple false hopes! A lesson for us is that some Muslims think that it is enough to be Muslim - and they will be saved because "at least I believe in Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم)". But note that Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) calls the Jews and Christians by noble names and yet tells them that having this label is not going to help you - it's a false hope that just having this label is going to save you.
بُرْهَان means evidence. بُرْهَان comes from بَرَهَ which means "a beautiful woman". بُرْهَان is a beautiful evidence - that stands out! One is drawn to it!
Some say that بُرْهَان comes from the Farsi (Persian) word بَرّان which means "a razor sharp sword". So the idea is to bring an evidence that cuts down every other argument out there.
Lessons for us are:
We should never become people who have false hopes
We should never become people who feel secure in their label of "Muslim".
You must only find security in powerful, compelling evidence.
Thus, we should never be satisfied by weak evidence especially especially in matters of deen. If we students of religion, we should stand on بُرْهَان - razor sharp evidence. Our loyalty should be to evidence and truth - our respect should be for our scholars. For common people, yes, they do not have time to go through all evidences so they will place their trust on scholars. But for people studying Islam, they are extra responsible for studying the evidences and supporting the strongest one.
بَلَىٰ مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ لِلَّـهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ فَلَهُ أَجْرُهُ عِندَ رَبِّهِ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
Yes [on the contrary], whoever submits his face in Islam to Allah while being a doer of good will have his reward with his Lord. And no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve. (112)
Submitting the face means prostrating (doing sajdah). Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) points out the heart of the problem with the Jews and Christians - they are too arrogant to do sajdah.
مُحْسِنٌ --> one who excels. Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) is telling them that they are role models. People come and ask them about God.
أَجْر -> compensation/salary. Implies that one did work to earn أَجْر. Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) is asking them, "Where is your work?". Question: In Islam our deeds are not enough to get us into Heaven. So why is Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) highlighting the work and compensation?
Answer: You need to do effort in order to gain additional Favor and Mercy of Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) .
Also, the Jews and Christians say "nobody but us will enter Jannah" so this ayah implies, "Why are you only thinking of Jannah? Why not Hell? You need to earn something in order to get to Heaven!".
Note the change of tense. The tense is singular when Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) states that one who submits to Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) and does good he/she will have no fear etc. Singular! Meaning that the path to Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) may be very lonely! It is a hard path.
Imam Aalusi states that the reason why Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) used "face" in the ayah implies sajdah because we prostrate by putting our face on the ground. Figuratively, it refers to those who forego their pride for the sake of submitting to Allah (سبحانه و تعالى). When you submit your face, it means you have submitted to Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) practically! You will now abide by the laws laid down by Allah (سبحانه و تعالى).
اسْلَمَ actually meant throwing down your weapon when surrounded. This is the kind of submission that needs to be done in front of Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) - and being at peace while doing so!
وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ لَيْسَتِ النَّصَارَىٰ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ وَقَالَتِ النَّصَارَىٰ لَيْسَتِ الْيَهُودُ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ وَهُمْ يَتْلُونَ الْكِتَابَ
The Jews say "The Christians have nothing [true] to stand on," and the Christians say, "The Jews have nothing to stand on," although they [both] recite the Scripture.
لَيْسَتِ النَّصَارَىٰ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ --> the Christians have no basis to stand on
As a principle, we should analyze ourselves when these ayah talk about Jews and Christians. It is entirely true that Muslims may read the same exact Book - and point fingers at other groups, refuting them and saying they have no basis to stand on. Quran study becomes a study to collect refutations against other groups or schools of thought. Very unfortunate!
Some say that this ayah came down as a result of an incident that happened in the life of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم). When emissaries from Najran (Christian people) came to meet the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) - and they were some high level Christians. Then finally when a representative of the Jews came to meet them too, they started having a religious debate regarding Jesus (عليه السلام) until they started cursing each other. The Jews said that we disbelieve in Jesus (عليه السلام) and we have nothing to do with the Injeel (the gospel given to Jesus). And they said to the Christians, "You people have no basis". The emissary from Najran said to the Jews, "I disbelieve in Moosa and Torah. You have no basis!"
We know that Christians do believe in Moses - so how come he said that he doesn't believe in Moosa (عليه السلام)? Well, Christianity has lots of denominations but a common theme is that God sacrificed his son - Jesus - so that humanity could be saved - so that they could be purified by the blood of Jesus. Before Jesus, humanity still wanted to be purified - they did so by obeying the law of Moses. But now, they had the blood of Jesus - so they no longer needed laws of Torah. Hence they said that they don't need Moses anymore. This is the debate that is referred to in this ayah. There isn't very strong evidence that this is the only reason why this ayah was revealed.
What is being said in this ayah is far worse against the Jews. Why? Because the ayah points out to the scholarly nature of the Jews (that they read the Scripture) and it could have said "The Christians have no basis on which to stand even though they read the Book". But it didn't. The Christian community was not that scholarly - so the reference to knowing the Scripture is actually referring to the Jewish community and their lack of knowledge despite knowing what is written in their books. What does it imply for Muslims?
The Jews and Christians are not just two religions; they are two types of people! These two types exist within Islam. This is not to say that there are Jews and Christians that exist within Islam. This is only saying that there are two types of people within Islam. The Christians are very spiritual, they don't follow much in the way of laws, they assume a lot about forgiveness and salvation and they believe they are fine if they do a few things and are generally good. This is true for many Muslims who believe that just by reciting "There is no god but one God", they are saved and nothing much needs to be done and nothing more needs to be known. Add to that the شفاعه (intercession) of the Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم) on Judgement Day - just like Christians believe that Jesus will save them on Judgement Day.
On the other hand the Jews are very very knowledgeable about their religion - they love disagreements! They love to refute others and claim that everyone is inferior to them and they are exclusive to God. They are ritualistically very very meticulous - very technical in their fiqh and their practices - yet those same exact people when it comes to being honest in their business practices, treating their neighbor nicely, they are completely different. So they just focus on the rituals and forget the morals. Same case is with some Muslims who follow the rituals very strictly but in morals, are the worst people.
Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) says about both these groups:
كَذَٰلِكَ قَالَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ مِثْلَ قَوْلِهِمْ ۚ فَاللَّـهُ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فِيمَا كَانُوا فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ
Thus the polytheists speak the same as their words. But Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ. (113)
Here Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) is saying that when Jews and Christians act like this, there is no difference between them and the mushrikoon of Makkah who don't know anything. So how should the Muslims deal with groups and factions that go at each other?
Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) will judge between them on the Day of Judgment - leave it alone. Huge lesson for us. One lesson that Ustadh has learnt in his experience as a speaker is that many people come up to him and ask him to speak out against deviated practices etc. But he holds the opinion that if you connect people with the word of Allah (سبحانه و تعالى), that will naturally purify them of their practices. If you get into debates and refutations against specifics, then the people will become defensive and more aggressive. Most Muslims naturally have a reverence for Quran and love for the Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم). If we use that to solve the problems in the society, then that is the best tool we have. Getting deep into specifics and yelling and screaming won't do any good.
~Ustadh Nouman
–Student notes UA, may Allah reward you.
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