Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | MAN IN CHARGE OF THE EARTHthe Muslims. This would make Muslims fully aware of what was being done behindtheir backs to undermine the foundations of their fledgling community.Second, it was necessary as a warning to the Muslims themselves to avoid thepitfalls into which earlier recipients of God’s message, had fallen. As a result, suchcommunities were stripped of the honour of having custody of the divine messageand of the leadership of mankind. A number of specific instructions to this effect,some implicit and some explicit, can be found throughout the present passage.There is no doubt that the Muslim community in Madinah at the time, andMuslims in subsequent generations, are in need of such warnings and admonitions.Muslims always need to study the Qur’ān very closely in order to discern andunderstand the divine instructions that will help them fight their habitual enemies,and to find out how to combat their insidious scheming.Without God’s guidance and the light of faith, human beings can never recognizeall the perils or fathom the wickedness of their enemies.We can see very clearly here how, in the unique Qur’ānic style, the story of theJews dovetails with that of Adam and Eve. This reflects an aspect of the integrity andthe complementary nature of the topics with the context in which they are presented.If we go back a little we find that the sūrah had established that God createdeverything on earth for the benefit of man. It then went on to relate how Adam,father of the human race, was given a covenant as God’s vicegerent on earth, how hewas honoured by the angels falling prostrate before him, the brief he received fromGod, how he overlooked it, regretted his error and repented. We have also been toldhow he was forgiven and provided with divine guidance to ensure his success in thislife. We have seen how that experience was in fact the prelude to the continuousconflict that was to take place on earth between the forces of evil and destruction,represented by Iblīs, and the forces of goodness and construction, represented byGod-fearing man.This is followed by an account of the history of the Israelites which records theircovenant with God and how they violated it, as well as the favours God hadbestowed on them and their ingratitude. As a result God withdrew His trust fromthem, allowing them to live in humiliation. The account warns Muslims against theevil designs of the Israelites and against following their example.There is a clear link between the assignment of Adam as God’s vicegerent on earthand the choice of the Israelites as custodians of God’s message. The subject matterand the message flow in total harmony with the style employed.The Qur’ān is not concerned with the chronology of the history of the Israelites. Itis only recalling certain events or actions in as much or as little detail as is67