Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | THE NATURE OF ISLAMIC SOCIETYIn life there can be no compromises or half measures; the choice is between rightand wrong, guidance and confusion, order and chaos, Islam and unbelief, the way ofGod and the way of Satan. God invites believers to peace and obedience and warnsthem against following Satan, in an effort to arouse their emotions and inspire theirconscience and to make them conscious of Satan’s avowed enmity to believers. It is ahostility of which the believing heart is ever aware.The sūrah goes on to point to the consequences of taking that warning lightly,saying: “If you should stumble after all evidence of the truth has come to you, then know thatGod is Almighty, Wise.” (Verse 209)The reminder carries awesome power. Those who disregard God’s advice,challenge His power and question the wisdom of His guidance, expose themselves tocondemnation and destruction.At this point the sūrah adopts a different approach to emphasize its previouswarnings and speaks in the third person, saying: “Are they waiting for God to revealHimself to them in the shadows of clouds, together with the angels? The case will have beensettled then. To God shall all things return.” (Verse 210)It condemns those who waver and are reluctant to submit and come into the foldof God’s peace. It questions their motives and the reasons that hold them back, andasks whether they will remain fixed in their obstinacy until such time as God,flanked by angels, should appear to them in person. In other words, are they waitingfor the fearful Day of Judgement to arrive? That day will indeed come, and the sūrahmoves at once to that momentous day to tell us that everything has been settled.Time has come to a stop. The opportunity to believe and repent has gone for ever. Noone could be saved now, as all stand facing their Lord to whom “shall all thingsreturn”.This is an illustration of the unique and effective style of the Qur’ān, which bringsto life the scenes it describes, and makes the reader or listener feel, see and hear whatis going on as if it were happening now.How much longer will they dither when the chance to come into the fold of God’speace is calling, and the final judgement is so close? God’s invitation is a promise ofpeace and happiness both in this life and the life to come.A Question Put to the IsraelitesThe sūrah then addresses the Prophet Muĥammad, ordering him to inquire of theIsraelites, described earlier in the sūrah as dithering and hesitant in their response toGod’s call: how many signs they chose to disregard and how they abused theprivileges God had bestowed upon them and how much they distorted His Message:261