al-bagarah_p160

40. " 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,
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.

* * * *

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
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.

* * * *

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,
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.

* * * *

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
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.

* * * *

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