Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | COVENANTS BREACHED ALL THE TIMEthe Day of Resurrection, they shall be committed to a most grievous suffering. For God is notunaware of what you do.” (Verse 85)The sūrah is referring here to events that had occurred shortly before the advent ofIslam. The city of Madinah was inhabited by two major Arab tribes, the Aws and theKhazraj, who had no formal religious beliefs of their own and worshipped variousdeities. They were bitter rivals, constantly at loggerheads. The Jews had settled inthree well-defined areas of Madinah and made various agreements with their Arabneighbours from both tribes. The Jewish tribes of Qaynuqā` and al-Nadīr alliedthemselves with the Khazraj tribe, while the Qurayżah allied itself with the Aws.Whenever war broke out between the two major Arab tribes, the Jewish inhabitantswould side with their respective allies, so that Jew killed Jew, in complete violationof their covenant with God. Jews would drive other Jews out of their homes, loottheir possessions and take their women. As soon as hostilities ceased, Jews on bothsides would hurry to exchange Jewish captives or buy their freedom, in fulfilment ofthe Torah teachings.The contradiction underlying this behaviour is exposed and the Jews are stronglyreproached: “Do you, then, believe in some parts of the Scriptures and deny others?” (Verse85) This is the very violation of their covenant for which they are given a very sternwarning: “Those of you who do this will have nothing for their reward other than ignominyin this life and, on the Day of Resurrection, they shall be committed to a most grievoussuffering. 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. Theirsuffering 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, fortemporal gain in this life, in stark violation of their covenant with God, was theireagerness to fulfil the unholy alliances they had forged with the Arab idolaters, incontradiction to the teachings of their Scriptures. Siding with both rival camps at thesame time was typical of the Jews of that time, consistent with their age- old policy ofholding both ends of the stick and placing two-way bets on events in order to securesome gains and protect certain interests, whichever camp ends up the winner.Such hypocrisy and cynical manipulation on the part of the Israelites betray adeep-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, andexpose their actions as driven wholly by materialistic self-interest, in total disregardfor the precepts and teachings of their Scriptures.97