Verses 102–105
2. Al-Baqara · The Cow
Madinan286 verses
وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ مَا تَتْلُوا۟ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينُ عَلَىٰ مُلْكِ سُلَيْمَٰنَ ۖ وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَٰنُ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ يُعَلِّمُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ ٱلسِّحْرَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَى ٱلْمَلَكَيْنِ بِبَابِلَ هَٰرُوتَ وَمَٰرُوتَ ۚ وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَآ إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌۭ فَلَا تَكْفُرْ ۖ فَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مِنْهُمَا مَا يُفَرِّقُونَ بِهِۦ بَيْنَ ٱلْمَرْءِ وَزَوْجِهِۦ ۚ وَمَا هُم بِضَآرِّينَ بِهِۦ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلَا يَنفَعُهُمْ ۚ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمُوا۟ لَمَنِ ٱشْتَرَىٰهُ مَا لَهُۥ فِى ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلَٰقٍۢ ۚ وَلَبِئْسَ مَا شَرَوْا۟ بِهِۦٓ أَنفُسَهُمْ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ
2:102And they followed what the devils pursued during Solomon’s reign —and Solomon was not faithless but it was the devils who were faithless—teaching the people magic and what was sent down to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut, who would not teach anyone without telling [him], ‘We are only a test, so do not be faithless.’ But they would learn from those two that with which they would cause a split between man and his wife—though they could not harm anyone with it except with Allah’s leave. They would learn that which would harm them and bring them no benefit; though they certainly knew that anyone who buys it has no share in the Hereafter. Surely, evil is that for which they sold their souls, had they known!12
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَٱتَّقَوْا۟ لَمَثُوبَةٌۭ مِّنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ خَيْرٌۭ ۖ لَّوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ
2:103Had they been faithful and Godwary, the reward from Allah would have been better, had they known!
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَقُولُوا۟ رَٰعِنَا وَقُولُوا۟ ٱنظُرْنَا وَٱسْمَعُوا۟ ۗ وَلِلْكَٰفِرِينَ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ
2:104O you who have faith! Do not say Ra‘ina, but say Unzurna, and listen! And there is a painful punishment for the faithless.
مَّا يَوَدُّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ وَلَا ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ أَن يُنَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّنْ خَيْرٍۢ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَخْتَصُّ بِرَحْمَتِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ ذُو ٱلْفَضْلِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ
2:105Neither the faithless from among the People of the Book nor the idolaters like that any good be showered on you from your Lord; but Allah singles out for His mercy whomever He wishes, and Allah is dispenser of a mighty grace.
Tafsir
Commentary on this passage
Verse 102
1.After the demise of Sulaiman (a.s.) the Shaitans made some magic papers and buried them under his throne and then later took them out and showed to the people and said that Sulaiman (a.s.) was ruling his kingdom with the help of these very magic papers. Many gullible people believed them. A similar farce was worked out after the passing away of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) that some dishonest people forged traditions and attributed them to the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.). They began to form an opposing stand under the guise of the Prophet’s authority.
2.After Nuh (a.s.) magic became prevalent among the people. So Allah sent two angels to the Prophet of the time to teach the people how to nullify the magic. When an Apostle tried to teach them, the people pretended to learn from these two angels and misused this knowledge to creating discord among the people. This is another method of Islam that some people fabricate teachings in the name of the Prophet and others use the correct teaching in the wrong way. The Holy Quran has criticized both and compared them to the characters of Jews. Those who hype upon the character of Ibne Saba, the Jew, should note where this character was born and in which places do we find people of having the same mentality as Ibne Saba.
Verse 104
3.When Muslims did not follow the words of Quran they requested the Prophet to help them, they used to say ‘Raina’. Raina means our cattle herd also. The Jews seized this word and began to say ‘Raina’ to the Prophet. But the Almighty Allah ordered the Muslims to changed the style so that the Jews may not misuse it for their own ends. This tells us about the political wisdom of Islam. That if the enemies try to gain from particular system it should be changed in some way so that they do not get a chance to exploit it.
Footnotes
Explanations of words and phrases in these verses
- 1
In the narration of Tafseer Durre Manthur, Sulaiman (a.s.) handed his ring, by the power of which he ruled, to his wife and went to the bathroom. Shaitan obtained the ring by fraud and Sulaiman (a.s.) became helpless. The satans have prepared such fables.
- 2
When the angels ridiculed the sinful acts of the sons of Adam, the Almighty Allah sent two angels to the earth and also sent the star Venus in the form of a woman. The two of them were lured into sin and they committed fornication with her. Thus they were made to descend at Babel which is the land of punishment. These narrations prove how the Jews penetrated the Muslims in the early period and concocted traditions and made the angels, the prophets and stars all sinners and murderers.
Benefit
Magic is an ancient historical profession. It is difficult to determine who had started this but it is well known that it was a universal profession and most prevalent In the land of Babel. To counter this trend the Almighty Allah sent two angels in human form to teach the people a way to nullify magic. They were sent in human form so that no one could say that angels had taught men. The angels fulfilled their mission with utmost sincerity but some people learnt the magic and instead of using it for nullifying sorcery themselves started practicing it. Islam has absolutely prohibited this act. It only allows that which the angels had taught. That is, it could only be practiced to nullify black magic.