Surah Al Baqarah Tafseer

The Children of Israel preferred Foods inferior to Manna and Quails

Allah said, "And remember My favor on you when I sent down the manna and quails to you, a good, pure, beneficial, easily acquired food. And remember your ungratefulness for what We granted you. Remember how you asked Musa to exchange this type of food for an inferior type that consists of vegetation, and so forth."

Al-Hasan Al-Basri said about the Children of Israel,

"They were bored and impatient with the type of food they were provided. They also remembered the life they used to live, when their diet consisted of lentils, onions, garlic and herbs."

Allah tells,

وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ يَا مُوسَى لَن نَّصْبِرَ عَلَىَ طَعَامٍ وَاحِدٍ فَادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُخْرِجْ لَنَا مِمَّا تُنبِتُ الَارْضُ مِن بَقْلِهَا وَقِثَّأيِهَا وَفُومِهَا وَعَدَسِهَا وَبَصَلِهَا

They said, "O Musa ! We cannot endure one kind of food. So invoke your Lord for us to bring forth for us of what the earth grows, its herbs, its cucumbers, its Fum, its lentils and its onions.

They said,

عَلَىَ طَعَامٍ وَاحِدٍ

(One kind of food) meaning,

the manna and quails, because they ate the same food day after day.

The Ayah mentioned lentils, onions and herbs, which are all known types of foods.

As for the Fum, Ibn Mas`ud read it, Thum (garlic).

Also, Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that Al-Hasan said about the Ayah,

وَفُومِهَا

(Its Fum),

"Ibn Abbas said that Fum means, garlic."

He also said that;

the expression, `Fumu-lanna' means, `bake for us', according to the languages of old.

Ibn Jarir commented,

"If this is true, then `Fum' is one of the words whose pronunciations were altered, the letter `fa' was replaced by the letter `tha', since they are similar in sound." And Allah knows best.

Others said that Fum is wheat, the kind used for bread.

Al-Bukhari said,

"Some of them said that Fum includes all grains or seeds that are eaten."

Allah's statement,

قَالَ أَتَسْتَبْدِلُونَ الَّذِي هُوَ أَدْنَى بِالَّذِي هُوَ خَيْرٌ

He said, "Would you exchange that which is better for that which is lower!"

criticized the Jews for asking for inferior foods, although they were living an easy life, eating tasty, beneficial and pure food.

Allah's statement,

اهْبِطُواْ مِصْراً

Go you down to any Misr,

Ibn Abbas said,

means, `any city'.

Ibn Jarir also reported that Abu Al-Aliyah and Ar-Rabi bin Anas said that;

the Ayah refers to Misr, the Egypt of Fir`awn.

The truth is that the Ayah means any city, as Ibn Abbas and other scholars stated. Therefore, the meaning of Musa's statement to the Children of Israel becomes,

"What you are asking for is easy, for it is available in abundance in any city that you might enter. So since what you asked for is available in all of the villages and cities, I will not ask Allah to provide us with it, especially when it is an inferior type of food. "

This is why Musa said to them,

أَتَسْتَبْدِلُونَ الَّذِي هُوَ أَدْنَى بِالَّذِي هُوَ خَيْرٌ اهْبِطُواْ مِصْراً

فَإِنَّ لَكُم مَّا سَأَلْتُمْ

Would you exchange that which is better for that which is lower Go you down to any town and you shall find what you want!

Since their request was the result of boredom and arrogance and since fulfilling it was unnecessary, their request was denied.

Allah knows best.

Covering the Jews in Humiliation and Misery

Allah said,

وَضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الذِّلَّةُ وَالْمَسْكَنَةُ

And they were covered with humiliation and misery.

This Ayah indicates that the Children of Israel were plagued with humiliation, and that this will continue, meaning that it will never cease. They will continue to suffer humiliation at the hands of all who interact with them, along with the disgrace that they feel inwardly.

Al-Hasan commented,

"Allah humiliated them, and they shall have no protector. Allah put them under the feet of the Muslims, who appeared at a time when the Majus (Zoroastrians) were taking the Jizyah (tax) from the Jews."

Also, Abu Al-Aliyah, Ar-Rabi bin Anas and As-Suddi said that;

`misery' used in the Ayah means, `poverty.'

Atiyah Al-Awfi said that;

`misery' means, `paying the tilth (tax).'

In addition, Ad-Dahhak commented on Allah's statement,

وَبَأوُوْاْ بِغَضَبٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ

and they drew on themselves the wrath of Allah,

"They deserved Allah's anger."

Also, Ibn Jarir said that the Ayah means,

"They went back with the wrath. Similarly, Allah said,

إِنِّي أُرِيدُ أَن تَبُوءَ بِإِثْمِي وَإِثْمِكَ

(Verily, I intend to let you draw my sin on yourself as well as yours), (5:29) meaning,

`You will end up carrying my, and your, mistakes instead of me'.

Thus, the meaning of the Ayah becomes,

`They went back carrying Allah's anger; Allah's wrath descended on them; they deserved Allah's anger."'

Allah's statement,

ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُواْ يَكْفُرُونَ بِأيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَيَقْتُلُونَ النَّبِيِّينَ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ

That was because they used to disbelieve in the Ayat (proofs, evidences, etc.) of Allah and killed the Prophets wrongfully.

means, "This is what We rewarded the Children of Israel with:humiliation and misery."

Allah's anger that descended on the Children of Israel was a part of the humiliation they earned, because of their defiance of the truth, disbelief in Allah's Ayat and belittling the carriers of Allah's Law i.e. the Prophets and their following. The Children of Israel rejected the Messengers and even killed them. Surely, there is no form of disbelief worse than disbelieving in Allah's Ayat and murdering the Prophets of Allah.

Meaning of Kibr

Similarly, in a Hadith recorded in the Two Sahihs the Messenger of Allah said,

الْكِبْرُ بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ وَغَمْطُ النَّاس

Kibr, is refusing the truth and degrading (belittling) people.

Imam Ahmad recorded, Abdullah bin Mas`ud saying that the Messenger of Allah said,

أَشَدُّ النَّاسِ عَذَابًا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ رَجُلٌ قَتَلَهُ نَبِيٌّ أَوْ قَتَلَ نَبِيًّا وَإِمَامُ ضَلَلَةٍ وَمُمَثِّلٌ مِنَ الْمُمَثِّلِين

The people who will receive the most torment on the Day of Resurrection are:a man who was killed by a Prophet or who killed a Prophet, an unjust ruler and one who mutilates (the dead).

Allah's statement,

ذَلِكَ بِمَا عَصَواْ وَّكَانُواْ يَعْتَدُونَ

That was because they disobeyed and used to transgress the bounds.

mentions another reason why the Children of Israel were punished in this manner, for they used to disobey and transgress the limits. Disobedience is to do what is prohibited, while transgression entails overstepping the set limits of what is allowed and what is prohibited. Allah knows best