Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | MAN IN CHARGE OF THE EARTHits Arabic form, Moses’s response could be interpreted in one of two ways. It couldmean that their request is so mundane and available everywhere. So wherever theywish to stay, they could find what they asked for. Alternatively, Moses is tellingthem to go back to Egypt and resume their servile, humble, humdrum life wherethey can have their cucumber, lentils, garlic and onion. They would not, it seems, bestrong enough for the great and noble task God had called on them to undertake.Contrary to some commentators, I favour this second meaning because it remindsthe Israelites of their misery and humiliation in Egypt, as it says: “Ignominy andhumiliation were stamped upon them and they incurred the wrath of God.” (Verse 61)Historically, this came later as a result of their disbelief in God’s revelations, theirkilling of some of their prophets, and their general disobedience. Thesedevelopments occurred several generations after Moses, but “ignominy andhumiliation” are mentioned here because they fit the context of their condescensionand insolence. Moses reminded them of the suffering and the distress they hadundergone in Egypt and of God’s kindness in delivering them from the Pharaoh.Boastful Claims by the JewsNo other nation in history has shown more intransigence and obstinacy than theJews. They viciously and mercilessly killed and mutilated a number of prophets andmessengers. They have over the centuries displayed the most extreme attitudestowards God, and towards their own religion and people.Nevertheless, they have always boasted of their virtue and made the implausibleclaims of being the most rightly-guided nation, the chosen people of God and theonly people that shall be saved. Such claims are totally refuted by the Qur’ān which,in this sūrah, goes on to stress the most basic and all-embracing principle of the unityof God’s religion. It establishes that belief in God is one and the same for all groupsand nations, and that it will lead to righteousness and good deeds. God’s grace andmercy are not the monopoly or the privilege of any particular racial or ethnic group.They are extended to all believers at all stages of human history, in succession, untilthe arrival of God’s final message, which would unite all believers. “Those who believe,and those who are Jews, and the Christians and the Sabaeans — anyone who believes in Godand the Last Day, and does what is right, shall have their reward with their Lord. They havenothing to fear nor shall they grieve.” (Verse 62)‘Those who believe’, as used here refers to the Muslims, while “Sabaeans”probably refers to a pre-Islamic religious group among the Arabs who were unhappywith idolatry and sought belief in the one God of Abraham, cutting themselves offfrom the pagan Arabs. Their name comes from the Arab word saba’, describing aperson who has abandoned the religion of his forefathers. In some commentaries,78