Chapter 2: Surat Al-Baqarah (The Cow), verses 122-124


Translation:

Children of Israel, remember My favour which I have bestowed upon you and that I exalted you among the nations. Fear the day when no soul avails another; when neither ransom nor intercession shall be accepted from it, nor any help be given it. When his Lord put Abraham to the proof with certain commandments, and Abraham fulfilled them, He said: ‘I have appointed you a leader of mankind.’ ‘And what of my descendants?’ asked Abraham. ‘My covenant,’ said He, ‘does not apply to the evil-doers.

Tafsir (Commentary):

The Children of Israel were selected by God to perform a very special task: they were to call other nations to God, impressing on them the fact that they were answerable to Him for their actions. God sent innumerable prophets among them to help and guide them in the performance of this task—Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Zakaria and John the Baptist, to name just a few. After a while, however, the Children of Israel went into decline. They took their privileged position, which was in fact due solely to the lofty task that had been entrusted to them, to be an indication of ethnic superiority. They thus lost their right to be representatives of divine religion on earth. The coming of the Arab Prophet signified the replacement of the Children of Israel by the Children of Ishmael as God’s favoured people: it was they who were chosen to carry on the task of communicating God’s word to other nations of the world. Those among the Children of Israel who were truly pious and God fearing soon realized that the teachings of the Prophet of Islam came to him from God. They recognized that the word he preached emanated from the same source as had inspired the Prophets before him. Those who denied him were acting solely out of prejudice: they refused to accept that any other nation besides their own could be selected for God’s favor.

These people were warned, through the Arab Prophet, that in the next world the only things of any value would be true faith borne out by earnest actions. In this world one person is able to bear the burden of another; sometimes intercession is accepted; sometimes one can free oneself by giving compensation; sometimes a helper is at hand to see one through a difficult situation. In the next world, however, none of these things will be of any avail. There, God’s justice will apply to one and all equally for no ethnic group holds a monopoly over the next world. Take the example of the Prophet Abraham, forefather of both the Arabs and the Jews. He was granted leadership of mankind only after he had undergone very severe tests, and had shown himself to be faithful and true to God under all circumstances. What God had demanded of Abraham was the supreme sacrifice—his son’s life—and when God finally intervened before Abraham could actually kill his own son, it was because Abraham had demonstrated his perfect willingness to make any sacrifice demanded of him by God, no matter how great or how terrible. The rule that applied to Abraham applied to every generation: only those who proved themselves worthy would be granted a share in God’s covenant; those who did not would meet the same fate as any other offenders in God’s sight, regardless of the nation to which they belonged. One who was willing to make soul-searing sacrifices for God’s cause showed his utmost dedication to it: it was only just and natural, then, that he should become the leader of his people.