" O' Children of Israel, remember My blessing wherewith I blessed you, and fulfil My covenant and I shall fulfil your covenant, and have awe of none but Me."
Commentary :
The Remembrance of the Favours of Allah
In the previous verses we learnt about the commission of Adam's vicegerency on the earth, the respectful treatment of the angels towards him, Iblis's reaction of pride, and the negligence of his covenant with Allah, and, consequently, his removal from the Garden and, thereafter, his penitence. Through these events, this fundamental principle was made clear that: in this world, there are two opposite forces, i.e. right and wrong, or just and unjust, which are always at odds with each other. He who, following the temptations of Satan, chooses the wrong path gets farther and farther away from felicity and salvation and involves himself in toil and pain, the fruit of which is remorse and regret.
But those who, heedless of the Satanic temptations and those of vicious fellows, choose the path of obedience of Allah will live a happy life, free from spiritual pain and grief.
There is a close similarity between the story of Adam (a.s.) and that of the Israelites when they were rescued from the clutches of Pharaoh before their vicegerency on the earth, and, after that, their negligence of their solemn promise to Allah which caused them to be involved in pain and misery. Their fate not only resembles that of Adam's, but it can also be considered as a subdivision of that general principle. Hence, in the above verse and several verses after that, Allah refers to some different aspects of the lives of the Children of Israel and their lamentable end to complete with them the educative lesson which He started with the story of Adam's fate.
He addresses the Israelites and says: " O' Children of Israel,
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remember My blessing wherewith I blessed you, and fulfil My covenant and I shall fulfil your covenant, and have awe of none but Me."
Those three instructions (the remembrance of the great blessings of Allah, being loyal to His covenant, to be in awe of only Him) are, indeed, the basis of all Divine programs.
The remembrance of the blessings of the Lord leads Man to the knowledge of Allah, and provokes a sense of gratitude in him. Then, believing that those bounties are not given unconditionally and He has taken a covenant for them, makes man aware of his duties and responsibilities. After this, not having awe of anybody or any power in the way of performing the Divine duties, causes Man to remove all the barriers and obstructions from his way and fulfil faithfully his responsibilities and promises, for, having awe of this and that, is one of the greatest obstacles on this way, especially in the case of the Israelites who were under the control of Pharaonic goverments and, consequently, fear had become a part of their lives.
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Explanations :
Jews in Medina
It is interesting that, according to what historians of the Qur'an have cited, Sura Al-Baqarah is the first Sura that was revealed in Medina. This Sura talks mostly about Jews, because they were the most dominate group of the ' People of the Book ' there. Before the advent of the Prophet of Islam (p.b.u.h.) , as their own religious books indicated, they were waiting for such an advent, and used to give its glad tidings to others. They were also in a very good economical condition at that time and, on the whole, they had a deep influence on the social affairs of Medina.
But, with the advent of Islam, many of them not only did not accept the invitation of Islam, but stood, hiddenly and openly, against it, because Islam hindered them from their unlawful interests and did not let them continue their evil social projects. Now, after the passing of more than fourteen centuries, this same hostility is still alive and active
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against Islam.
It was at that time when the above verse and the verses after that were sent down which blamed them intensively and, by mentioning the sensitive aspects of their historical background, moved them so violently that those Jews, who had the least sense of justice and truth-seeking, awoke and accepted Islam. Besides that, this admonishment was a comprehensive lesson for all the Muslim believers, too.
In the discussions of the verses that will come later, we shall talk about some of the outstanding circumstances of these people such as their rescue from the grips of Pharaoh, the cleaving asunder of the sea and the drowning of Pharaoh and his horsemen, the appointing place of Moses (a.s.) on Mount Sinai (Toor) , the calf (of gold) worshipped by the Israelites when Moses (a.s.) was not among them which caused them to receive the instruction of the bloody repentence and, thereafter, the special bounties of Allah were sent down for them, and some other events similar to these, each of which contains a lesson or lessons to be learnt by all.
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The Jews' Twelve Covenants with Allah
As it is understood from the verses of the Holy Qur'an, the covenant mentioned in the above verse is the very covenant of worshipping Allah; to treat parents, kindred, orphans, and the needy with kindness; to have fair behaviour with people, to attend and be steadfast in ritual prayers; to pay alms; to avoid doing grievous wrongs, and to avoid shedding blood.
The witness of this statement is Sura Al-Baqarah, No. 2, verses 83 and 84:
" And (remember) when We made a covenant with the Children of Israel (instructing) : ' You shall not worship any but Allah; and (you shall do) good to (your) parents, and to the near of kin and to the orphans, and the needy, and speak kind words to people, keep up the prayer, and pay the poor-rates (zakat) '.
Then you turned away, except a few of you,
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and you backslide (even now) . " And (remember) when We made a covenant with you: ' You shall not shed your blood, nor expel one another from your dwellings ', then you confirmed it while you bore witness."
These two verses, in fact, refer to the ten different covenants that Allah had taken from the Jews. When we consider, and add, the two other covenants of Sura Al-Ma'idah, No. 5, verse 12, which advises them to believe in the Divine prophets and help them respectfully, the fact is made clear that they had given numerous covenants to Allah for those great Divine blessings; and they had been promised by Allah to be settled in the Gardens of Heaven under whose trees and castles streams flow, if they would have kept their promises, thus:
" Allah did aforetime take a Covenant from the Children of Israel,... and Allah said: 'I am with you: if ye (but) establish regular Prayers, practise regular Charity, believe in My apostles, honour and assist them,... And admit you to Gardens with rivers flowing beneath,..."
But, unfortunately, inspite of the long expectations of the Jews based upon the prophecies in their sacred scriptures, they, finally, observed none of those promises and they continued their most vehement and the most torturous opposition and persecution against Islam and Muslims not only at the advent of Islam but they have also been continuing it until the present time. The fruit of their evil actions was that they became vagrant, and this condition will always be seen in their lives till the time when they will be destroyed. If we see that, with the support of this oe that, they flourish in their authorative existence for a short length of time, it cannot be counted a real reason for their final victory. We know it well that one day the true followers of Islam, free from any tribal or racial adherences, and only under the light of the Holy Qur'an, will rise and put an end to all these vanities.
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Allah will Fulfil His Covenant, too!
The bounties of Allah have never been given unconditionally and every blessing is accompanied by a responsibility or responsibilities.
A tradition from Imam Sadiq (a.s.) says that the objective meaning
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of the phrase: 'I shall fulfil your covenant', mentioned in this verse, is that Allah will fulfil His covenant in admitting them into Heaven. (1)
It is not surprising that, in this tradition, the belief in the mastership of Hadrat Ali (a.s.) is mentioned as a part of this covenant, because one of the items of the covenant of the Children of Israel was the acceptance of the prophecy of the Divine Apostles and the assisting of them. And it is evident that the acceptance of their viceeerents is also a part of the acceptance of that leadership and mastership, which should be established at any time appropriate with that age. At the time of Moses (a.s.) , it was he who held that position; and at the time of Hadrat Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) , he did, and thereafter Hadrat Ali (a.s.) continued it.
By the way, the phrase: "... and have awe of none but Me", referring to an awe of His punishment because of their disobedience of His command, is an emphasis on this subject that, in fulfilling their covenant with Allah, they should fear of no one and no circumstance.
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Why are Jews Called the Children of Israel ?
'Israel' was one of the titles of Jacob, Yusuf's (Joseph) father. Both the well-known commentators ' Tabarsi ' in his book: 'Majma'ul-Bayan ' (vol. 1, p. 92) , and Shaykh-ut-Ta'ifah the Late Toosi in his commentary book entitled: ' at-Tibyan Fi Tafsir-il-Qur'an ' (vol. 1, p. 180) have expressed: "Israel is the same as Jacob, the son of Issac (Ishaq) the son of Abraham (a.s.) ...".
These two great commentators believe that the word /isra'il/ is a combination of the term 'Isr', /'abd/, with the meaning of 'servant' and ' 'il ' with the meaning of 'Allah'. Then, the word means 'the servant of Allah'; and it is a 'Hebraic' word.
(1) Nur-uth-Thaqalayn, vol. 1, p. 73
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