Thursday 7 April 2011

surah baqarah verse 49-59

translation
49. And (remember) when We delivered you from Fir'aun's (Pharaoh) people, who were afflicting you with a horrible torment, killing your sons and sparing your women, and therein was a mighty trial from your Lord.
50. And (remember) when We separated the sea for you and saved you and drowned Fir'aun's (Pharaoh) people while you were looking (at them, when the sea-water covered them).
51. And (remember) when We appointed for Musa (Moses) forty nights, and (in his absence) you took the calf (for worship), and you were Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.).
52. Then after that We forgave you so that you might be grateful.
53. And (remember) when We gave Musa (Moses) the Scripture [the Taurat (Torah)] and the criterion (of right and wrong) so that you may be guided aright.
54. And (remember) when Musa (Moses) said to his people: "O my people! Verily, you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf. So turn in repentance to your Creator and kill yourselves (the innocent kill the wrongdoers among you), that will be better for you with your Lord." Then He accepted your repentance. Truly, He is the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful.
55. And (remember) when you said: "O Musa (Moses)! We shall never believe in you till we see Allah plainly." But you were seized with a thunderbolt (lightning) while you were looking.
56. Then We raised you up after your death, so that you might be grateful.
57. And We shaded you with clouds and sent down on you Al-Manna and the quails, (saying): "Eat of the good lawful things We have provided for you," (but they rebelled). And they did not wrong Us but they wronged themselves.
58. And (remember) when We said: "Enter this town and eat bountifully therein with pleasure and delight wherever you wish, and enter the gate in prostration (or bowing with humility) and say: 'Forgive us,' and We shall forgive you your sins and shall increase (reward) for the good-doers."
59. But those who did wrong changed the word from that which had been told to them for another, so We sent upon the wrong-doers Rijzan (a punishment) from the heaven because of their rebelling against Allah's Obedience.

Tafseer
There are 2 opinions regarding the killing of Bani Israel by Pharoah
1. the population of the Bani Israel was growing rapidly and the Pharoah was scared that if their population exceeds that of people of Pharoah then they would become weak against the Bani Israel and would lose power. So he decided to kill all the male newborns in the Bani Israel and this killing was done alternate years. The year Hazrat Haroon was born there were no killings but the year of the birth of Hazrat Musa, the newborns were killed.
2. the other opinion is that the pharoah had a dream and when he inquired about the meaning behind the dream he was told that a child from amongst the Bani Israel will grow up to overthrow his rule and authority. Thus it was decided to kill all the new born males of Bani Israel. Hazrat Haroon was born before this decision was taken.

Allah is reminding Bani Israel of that time when the Pharoah was getting the males of their population killed and were sparing their women and it was then that Allah sent down Hazrat Musa for their help.
Hazrat Musa was commanded by Allah to cross the sea with his people but while doing so they were worried to see that Pharoah was right behind them with his army. Allah commanded Hazrat Musa to strike his stick and the sea seperated, creating a path for him and his people to cross the sea safely. When Pharoah tried to follow the sea closed again , drowining him and his army. And thus the Bani Israel were relieved from the tyranny of the Pharoah. And then the Bani Israel were told to move towards their homeland- Palestine. On the way Hazrat Musa was summoned by Allah to Koh-i-Toor for 40 days because Allah wanted to bestow Torah on him so that his people may be guided and preached about whats right and whats wrong. In the absence of Hazrat Musa, Hazrat Haroon was left in charge of the people. The question may arise that why was Hazrat Musa called to Koh-I-toor to receive the Torah? Allah wanted to teach him the lessons of the Book and that was only possible in the serenity and quietness of the mountain where complete concentration and focus could be achieved where no communication with other people was possible.
Behind his back, the Bani Israel created a calf out of gold and started worshipping it (Shirk) and hence became polytheists. The had lived for so long in the rule of Pharoah that shirk had become a part of them as well. But Allah forgave them for this just so that they may learn to be grateful to their Lord who forgave them for such a major sin.
Hazrat Musa said to them that they have inflicted a major suffering upon themselves by indulging in shirk and they can repent by killing each other. there are again two opinions about this:
1. there were 2 kinds of people. one , who worshipped the calf and the other who did not. So the innocent killed the polythiests.
2. The order was to kill the Bani Israel and no distinction like above was made amongst them.
It is said that 70,000 bani israel were killed(out of a total of 600,000) and the rest who remained were forgiven. Although this might sound very cruel but this was for their own benefit, there was betterment in this for them only.
When Hazrat Musa came back with Torah , his people said that we havent seen Allah so how can we believe this is His Book, how can we be sure that you yourself havent written it. so it was decided that some people would accompany Hazrat Musa to Koh-i-Toor where he got the Torah, so that the Bani Israel can learn the truth themselves. And hence around 70 people went with Hazrat Musa to the mountain where they said that they will only believe when they see Allah and they will not believe in any voice. And then they saw lightning move towards the mountain and when it struck, all 70 of them died. Hazrat Musa got worried and said to Allah that how will he go back to his people?how will he face them and their questions? How will he make them believe the Truth. So Allah brought those 70 people back to life so that they may be grateful to their Lord Who kept forgiving their sins once after the other.
And so they went back to the desert where they lived for 40 years before entering palestine again. there were no trees and no shade in the desert, Allah provided shade for them through clouds (an extremely huge favour) and He sent down Mon (sweet goodies) Salwa( meat of a bird) and this was another blessing of Allah on the Bani Israel. But they were still ungrateful and complained that they cannot keep having the same kind of food. And they once again brought misery upon their own self through this act of ungratefulness.
But Allah is ever Merciful and He told them to move towards their homeland (implied Palestine) and to enter the gates of their homeland humbly, seeking the forgiveness of Allah(with words of repentance on their tongues but instead they started uttering the words "wheat") but once again they rebelled (mocked the commands) and went against the words of Allah. Thus they were inflicted with a severe punishment sent down from the skies. There is no clarity of what that punishment was, some say it was the disease of Tawun. 
A Muslim hadith states: Tawun is a part of the punishment (Rijz)that was inflicted on people before you. If tawun spreads where you live then do not leave that area and if you get to know  that Tawun has spread someplace then avoid that place.
But I repeat there is no clear defination or clarification of what that punishment was.

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