Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | MAN IN CHARGE OF THE EARTHransom taken” from, or on behalf of, anyone. Unless a person has a record of faith andgood deeds, nothing can save him or absolve his misdemeanours or intransigencetowards God. Furthermore, he shall receive no support of any kind from anyone else.A Long List of FavoursThe sūrah proceeds to enumerate the favours God had extended to the Israelites,the most significant of which was their deliverance from the tyranny and persecutionof the Pharaoh. It portrays their response to these favours which was marked withlack of appreciation and flagrant violation of God’s commandments. “And rememberhow We delivered you from Pharaoh’s people, who afflicted you with cruel suffering, killingyour sons and sparing only your women. That was a grievous trial from your Lord. Weparted the sea for you, led you to safety and drowned Pharaoh’s people before your very eyes.”(Verses 49-50)The Qur’ān graphically recalls the ordeals suffered by the Israelites’ forefathers, asif the later Jews themselves had undergone those experiences. It stresses the act ofdeliverance as well as the torment and the persecution that preceded it. It makes thespecific point that the whole experience contained an element of trial by God to theIsraelites, testing their faith and resolve, and their trust in the Lord. The expressionused in this verse in reference to the suffering adds connotations that the sufferingwas like food given regularly. It highlights one aspect of that suffering, which is thekilling of young men and leaving women alone. This was meant to weaken the Jewsand exhaust their strength.The verse seeks to impress upon the listener that when ordained by the will ofGod, hardship, misfortune and tribulation will not be in vain. Once aware of this fact,one will develop more resilience and moral strength that will enable one to endurepain and overcome it much more easily. The experience will inspire one to drawcloser to God and seek His mercy and help, and raise one’s capacity to cope withlife’s difficulties as well as one’s credit for reward in the hereafter. Hence the tellingcomment: “That was a grievous trial from your Lord.” (Verse 49)Having recalled the painful part of the episode, the sūrah portrays the scene ofdelivery when God “parted the sea for you, led you to safety and drowned Pharaoh’s peoplebefore your very eyes.” (Verse 50)More detailed accounts of this event, already familiar to the Jews from their ownScriptures, are given in several Makkan sūrahs of the Qur’ān. Here, in typicalQur’ānic style, we get only a brief reference to it, but in the most vivid terms,addressing the Jews of Madinah as if they were present at the scene, for a heightenedeffect and greater impact.73