Bani Israel In The Book of God
Today, we have a very special opportunity in this city,
by the Grace of Allah, to get to know those faithful and
sincere Jews, and interact with them.
By Dr. M. Shokr
One of the arguments that are deliberately promoted to solicit public sympathy with the state of Israel is that the Qur’an declares that God has “written” the land of Palestine for Bani Israel. This argument has been circulated in the Muslim communities and even supported by a few Muslim “experts”. It is important to shed some light on the Qur’anic narration related to this claim and share a few ideas about the stand of the Qur’an with regards
to Bani Israel (Children of Yakoob) and the current situation in Palestine. At the core of this narration are verses from Surah Al-Ma’eda (5:20-21) “And Moses said to his people: O my people! Remember the bounty of God upon you when He bestowed prophets upon you, and made you kings and gave you that which had not been given to anyone before you amongst the nations. O my people! Enter the Holy Land which God has written for you, and do not turn tail, otherwise you will be losers.”
The supporters of Israel take this part of the verse “God has written for you the Holy Land” and focus on the word “written”. They say that in both Jewish and Islamic understandings this word implies finality and decisiveness. So, according to their argument, God has “written” the land of Palestine for Bani Israel and no one can change that! Moreover, the question Today, we have a very special opportunity in this city, by the Grace of Allah, to get to know those faithful and sincere Jews, and interact with them.
continues to arise: How can Muslims, despite their daily reading of the Qur’an, tend to obscure this fact which supports the Zionist hopes for a re-borne Israel? They also use other verses such as the one in Surah Al-Isra’ (2:47): “O Children of Israel, remember My Favor which I bestowed upon you and that I favored you over all mankind.”
They present this verse as a proof of the superiority of Bani Israel in the view of Allah (swt) over the entire humanity. This claim simply ignores the past tense that the verse uses “I Favored you over all mankind”, i.e. the favor happened in the past and we are not sure if it continues.
These are false claims but we have to know why and how we can refute them. We start with the word “written onto you”, which they claim it means finality and no one can change it. This word, in its passive version, is repeated in the Qur’an 13 times. It is commonly translated into “is prescribed onto you”. For example the Qur’an says “fasting is prescribed onto you” (2:183), “the law of equity is prescribed onto you” (2:178), “fighting is prescribed upon you” (2:216). However, in all these “prescribed” duties, there are exemptions under certain conditions that would relieve believers from the prescribed fasting, participation in fighting, or application of the law of equity. So, by the same
token, while it is true that Allah (swt) prescribed a certain piece of land to Bani Israel to dwell in, nothing makes this ‘absolute right regardless of their behavior.’
From the Qur’anic and even the Biblical view, God would never support the oppressor. He would never support the suffering of people for the pleasure of other people. All Palestinians, whether Muslims, Christians or even Jews (yes! there are Palestinian Jews) are suffering from the occupation of Palestine by the Zionist state. The preferred Favor
granted by Allah (swt) to Bani Israel is conditional; it depends on their commitment to His Message, or more precisely on fulfilling their covenant to God.
The covenant between Allah (swt) and Bani Israel is mentioned in (2:63). “And remember (O Bani Israel) when We took your covenant and raised the Mount above you and said: Hold fast to which we have given you, and remember that which is in it so that you may develop Taqwa.”
This covenant is described in the Jewish tradition in great detail. Some of its items are mentioned in (2:40- 46). In those verses, Allah (swt) calls on Bani Israel to fulfill their obligations to Him so that He will fulfill His obligations to them. “O Bani Israel remember My Favour which I bestowed upon you, and fulfill your obligations to Me so that I will fulfill My obligations to you, and fear none but Me.” What are the obligations that Bani Israel had to fulfill in order to earn the special Favour of Allah (swt)? They are:
(1) believe in, and commit to, the Message of Allah (swt) and don’t sell
this commitment for little benefits,
(2) do not mix the truth with falsehood and not to conceal the truth,
(3) offer prayers and give zakat and submit with obedience to Allah,
(4) do not ask people to be righteous while not practicing righteousness
yourself,
(5) seek help of Allah (swt) with prayer and patience.
These are not the obligations that could be taken lightly. It is the most crucial and serious venture. If Bani Israel betray this trust and abandon their commitment to Allah (swt), they will simply loose this special status with Him. Allah (swt) favored Bani Israel not just because they were Jews, but because they were oppressed and He wanted to free them and make them an example in commitment to justice and human values. The Favor of Allah (swt) is not based on race, lineage, or even commitment to performing religious rituals. Allah (swt) does not grant His Favor to any nation unconditionally, including the Muslim nation. So, His Favor on Bani Israel is not final in the sense that it is granted regardless of people’s actions. This is declared also in surat Al-Isra’ (17:4-8): “We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture, that they would
do mischief on the earth twice, and will become tyrants and extremely arrogant.” (17:4) “So, when the first promise came, We sent against you servants of Ours committed to strong warfare. They entered the very innermost parts of your homes. And it was a fulfilled promise.” (17:5) “Then we gave another opportunity of victory. And We helped you with
wealth and children and made you more numerous in man-power.” (17:6) “If you do good you do it for your own benefit and if you do evil you do it against yourself. Then when the second promise came to pass, We permitted your enemies to make your faces sorrowful and to enter your temple and destroy it utterly.” (17:7) “We did all that so you may receive Mercy from your Lord (if you learn your lesson).
But if you return to sin We shall return to our punishment. And We have made Hell a prison for the disbelievers.” (17:8) This last verse summarizes the answer to the false claim of the right of Israel to dwell on the land of Palestine. It also sets a tone for defining the cycle of human history from the Qur’anic point of view. Allah (swt) grants Bani Israel His special Favor if they do justice and denies it if they do mischief. And this will continue throughout the course of human history.
In these verses the Qur’an refers to two events of destruction of Bani Israel because of the mischief that they committed. In the last verse it sets the divine rule that any time they return to the mischief, Allah (swt) will return to punish them. This is the universal law of Allah (swt). It applies to Bani Israel as well as all other nations. Allah (swt) gave Bani Israel the land in order to test their courage and commitment to enter it and fight the tyrants who dwelt in it. But they showed no courage and refused to
fight because they found that the people there were too strong for them.
They said to Prophet Moses “go and fight along with your Lord on our behalf” (5:24): “They said: O Moses! We will never enter (the land) as long as they are there. So you go with your Lord and fight! We are sitting right here.” When that happened Allah (swt) withdrew His support for them temporarily and made them live in Diaspora for 40 years until a more courageous generation emerged and was able to fight the tyrants. So, again the condition for Allah’s support is clearly demonstrated here.
But the Qur’an teaches us another important lesson, which is quite relevant to our situation in this society today. No one should stereotype Bani Israel or any nation for that matter. In the same Qur’anic narration, when it mentions the refusal of Bani Israel to enter the Sacred Land and fight the tyrants, two believers from among them advised their people to obey Allah’s command: “Then two pious people (from among Bani Israel) on whom Allah bestowed His Grace said: attack them through the gate, when you do that, victory will be yours, and put trust in Allah if you are indeed a believer.”(5:23) These were two men who feared God, and that made them totally fearless when they confronted mighty
people. They had all the courage needed to dispel the imaginary danger.
They made this testimony, highlighting the importance of faith and the time of trial and difficulty. They wanted to show what is meant by “to fear God alone” at times when people fear each other. Does that sound familiar? Is not that what Islam is calling for? We should not overlook this fact. Today, we continue to see good people from among our Jewish brothers and sisters who advocate for justice and human rights inline with the Message of Allah (swt). Today, we have a very special opportunity in this city, by the Grace and Favour of Allah (swt) on us, to get to know those faithful and sincere Jews, and interact with them. This particular Qur’anic narration should motivate us to do so.
It is clear from the Qur’an that Jews have had no special merit that entitled them to any right over the Holy land if they broke off their covenant with Allah (swt). There is no
objection in the Qur’an that the Jews can be assembled in the holy land, but that should be to promote justice, prevent human suffering and live in harmony with His other servants. In fact, this is also part of the halakhic ruling in Judaism: Saving human life takes precedence even over Shabbat observance. It is ironic and amazing how selectively
Qur’anic verses are quoted to justify Zionism with its occupation and apartheid policies. If some verses from the Qur’an are accepted by some Zionists as the true message from God, then the whole Qur’an might as well be accepted as the true message and then the Jewish immigrants to Israel would be welcomed to the land as believers of the truthfulness of the Qur’an!
|
Is Galloway a terrorist?