Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | JEWISH EFFORTS TO UNDERMINE ISLAMThe sūrah then turns to highlight aspects of the qiblah issue, pointing out that theJews were hell-bent on preventing the Muslims from turning towards the Ka`bah inprayer. The Qur’ān condemns this stance, branding it an attempt to prevent thementioning of God’s name in His places of worship and an effort to destroy suchplaces.As the passage draws to a close it brings the Muslims face to face with the real andunderlying motives driving the Jews and Christians in their opposition to Islam.Their chief wish had been to turn the Muslims away from their beliefs and theirreligion altogether. They were never going to rest or be happy with Muĥammaduntil he abandoned his faith for theirs; otherwise, it would be war, intrigue andconfrontation all the way.Begrudging God’s Grace“Believers, do not say [to the Prophet]: “Listen to us,’ but say: “Have patience withus,’ and hearken. Grievous suffering awaits the unbelievers. Neither the unbelieversamong the people of earlier revelations nor the idolaters would like to see any blessingever bestowed upon you by your Lord. But God favours with His mercy whom Hewills; His grace is infinite. Any revelation We annul or consign to oblivion We replacewith a better or similar one. Do you not know that God has power over all things? Doyou not know that God has sovereignty over the heavens and the earth, and that apartfrom God you have no one to protect you or give you help? Do you wish to ask of theMessenger who has been sent to you the same as was formerly asked of Moses? Hewho barters faith for unbelief has surely strayed away from the right path. Manyamong the people of earlier revelations would love to lead you back to unbelief nowthat you have embraced the faith. This they do out of deep-seated envy, after the truthhas become manifest to them; so forgive and forbear until God makes known Hisdecree. Indeed, God has power over all things. Attend regularly to your prayer andpay zakāt (financial duty); for, whatever good you do for your own sake you shall findit with God. God sees all that you do. (Verses 104-110)The opening verse of this passage addresses the believers, asking them not toemulate the Jews in their play on certain Arabic words when speaking to theProphet. One such word is rā`inā, which means “listen to us”, but the sound of whichcould be subtly varied to convey the offensive meaning of ‘an impulsive fool’. Theywould resort to this cowardly form of abuse because they would not dare insult theProphet openly. The Muslims were advised to use synonymous words that could notbe twisted to give an offensive meaning in their address to the Prophet.This kind of behaviour not only shows the extent of Jewish resentment and envytowards the Muslims, it also shows the Jews as discourteous and underhand. TheQur’ān mentions these activities to indicate how caring and well disposed God is115