Surah Al Ma'idah Tafseer

Cursing the People of the Book for Breaking the Covenant

Allah commanded His believing servants to fulfill the promises and pledges that He took from them and which they gave His servant and Messenger, Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Allah also commanded them to stand for the truth and give correct testimony. He also reminded them of the obvious and subtle favors of the truth and guidance that He granted them.

Next, Allah informed them of the pledges and promises that He took from the People of the Book, who were before them, the Jews and Christians. When they broke these promises and covenants, Allah cursed them as a consequence and expelled them from His grace and mercy. He also sealed their hearts from receiving guidance and the religion of truth, beneficial knowledge and righteous actions.

Allah said,

وَلَقَدْ أَخَذَ اللّهُ مِيثَاقَ بَنِي إِسْرَايِيلَ وَبَعَثْنَا مِنهُمُ اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ نَقِيبًا

Indeed Allah took the covenant from the Children of Israel and We appointed twelve leaders among them.

These twelve people were leaders who gave the pledge to Allah to listen and obey Allah, His Messenger and His Book on behalf of their tribes.

Muhammad bin Ishaq and Ibn Abbas said that;

this occurred when Musa went to fight the mighty enemy (in Palestine), and Allah commanded him to choose a leader from every tribe.

The Leaders of Ansar on the Night of Aqabah

Likewise, when the Messenger of Allah took the pledge from the Ansar in the Aqabah area, there were twelve leaders from the Ansar.

There were three men from the tribe of Aws:

Usayd bin Al-Hudayr,

Sa`d bin Khaythamah and

Rifa`ah bin Abdul-Mundhir, or Abu Al-Haytham bin At-Tayhan.

There were nine people from the tribe of Khazraj:

Abu Umamah Asad bin Zurarah,

Sa`d bin Ar-Rabi,

Abdullah bin Rawahah,

Rafi` bin Malik bin Al-Ajlan,

Al-Bara bin Ma`rur,

Ubadah bin As-Samit,

Sa`d bin Ubadah,

Abdullah bin `Amr bin Haram and

Al-Mundhir bin Umar bin Khunays.

Ka`b bin Malik mentioned these men in his poem, as recorded by Ibn Ishaq. On that night, these men were the leaders or representatives of their tribes by the command of the Prophet. They gave the pledge and promise of allegiance and obedience to the Prophet on behalf of their people.

Allah said,

وَقَالَ اللّهُ إِنِّي مَعَكُمْ

And Allah said, "I am with you...,

with My protection, support and aid,

لَيِنْ أَقَمْتُمُ الصَّلَةَ وَاتَيْتُمُ الزَّكَاةَ وَامَنتُم بِرُسُلِي

if you perform the Salah and give the Zakah and believe in My Messengers;

concerning what they bring you of the revelation,

وَعَزَّرْتُمُوهُمْ

honor and assist them...,

and support them on the truth,

وَأَقْرَضْتُمُ اللّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا

and lend to Allah a good loan...,

by spending in His cause, seeking to please Him.

لاَّأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنكُمْ سَيِّيَاتِكُمْ

verily, I will remit your sins.

and errors, I will erase them, cover them, and will not punish you for them,

وَلاُدْخِلَنَّكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الَانْهَارُ

and admit you to Gardens under which rivers flow (in Paradise).

thus, protecting you from what you fear and granting you what you seek.

Breaking the Covenant

Allah said,

فَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ مِنكُمْ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَاء السَّبِيلِ

But if any of you after this, disbelieved, he has indeed gone astray from the straight way.

Therefore, those who break this covenant, even though they pledged and vowed to keep it, yet, they broke it and denied it ever existed, they have avoided the clear path and deviated from the path of guidance to the path of misguidance.

Allah then mentioned the punishment that befell those who broke His covenant and the pledge they gave Him