Punishment Due to Ascribing Plurality to God

LESSON # 67 HOLY QUR’AAN

BAQARAH - 2

Punishment Due to Ascribing Plurality to God

Verse –54 of 286, Section - 6

And when Moses said unto his people: O my people! Ye have wronged yourselves by your choosing of the calf (for worship), so turn in penitence to your Creator, and kill (the guilty) yourselves. That will be best for you with your Creator and He will relent toward you. Lo! He is the Relenting, the Merciful.

Wa ‘iz qaala Muusaa li-Qawmihii  yaa-qawmi  ‘innakum zalamtum  ‘anfusakum  bit-tikhaazikumul-‘ijla  fatuubuuu  ‘ilaa  Baari-‘ikum faqtuluuu  ‘anfusakum.  Zaalikum khay-rul-lakum ‘inda  Baari-‘ikum  Fataaba ‘alaykum ‘Innahuuu Huwat-Tawwaa-bur-Rahiim.

Lesson

Li-Qawmihii – (unto his people, to His nation), in this verse aim from li-Qawmihii is those particular persons who prostrated the calf supposing their worshipped. 

Zalamtum – (you have wronged, you have lost) it means that they involved again in plurality leaving the Oneness of God Almighty. How might be more than it loss of a person over him?

Faqtuluuu  ‘anfusakum – So kill (the guilty) yourselves. It signifies towards the people who did not prostrate the calf they should kill them who prostrated it. The scholars have commented that there were three groups in the children of Israel:

·       Those persons who did not prostrate the calf and forbade the others not to prostrate it. They were pious persons. 

·       Those people who prostrated.

·       It was a group who did not prostrate themselves but they did not forbid others from prostrating.

So the pious people were commanded to kill them who prostrated. In fact the after wards two groups deserved the punishment.

Khay-rul-lakum – it is best for you. It aims that when you will kill one an other, you will become sacred from the filth of sin and will get absolution and freedom.

In this verse God Almighty tells the children of Israel, “You could not remain on the straight path in the absence of the Prophet (peace be upon Him), involved in plurality and idol worshipping. You have lost much due to this deed of yours. Now it is its punishment that you kill each other yourselves. When the children of Israel admitted the order of God Almighty, then they were relented and the God, the Most high accepted their penitence. Success in this world and on the Day of Resurrection for the human being is in obeying the Orders of God Almighty wishing either he knows or doesn’t know its philosophy and advisability. And if with error, forgetfulness or un-intentionally he has mistaken, then he should be ready every time for acceptance and correctness.   

Transliteration in Roman Script, English Translation by Marmaduke Pickthall, Published by Paak Company, 17-Urdu Bazar, Lahore and Paraphrase collected from Dars e Qur’aan published By Idara Islah wa Tableegh, Lahore (translated by Muhammad Sharif Fauji) (http://hltsharif.blogspot.com)