2.26 Al-Baqarah: Allah’s Covenant with the Israelites and the Inner Meaning of Affirming the Seal Prophet

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

Praise and thanks be to Allah, Exalted and Most Great. Blessings be upon our Seal Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and may Allah be pleased with all the noble Companions.

Today we are studying a topic: Allah, Exalted and Most Great, made a covenant with the Israelites that they should affirm the truth of the Seal Prophet-Messenger and follow him. We are not only going to study the verse in Surat al-Baqarah that mentions our Lord’s covenant with the Israelites; we are also going to study why the Israelites could affirm the truth of the Seal Prophet-Messenger, why our Lord gave glad tidings in their scripture of the coming of the Seal Prophet-Messenger, and how we are to understand this.

The Covenant in al-Baqarah

First, let us study the covenant between our Lord and the Israelites as mentioned in verse 40 of Surat al-Baqarah. In this verse, our Lord tells us:

{يَابَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتِيَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَوْفُواْ بِعَهْدِي أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ وَإِيَّايَ فَارْهَبُون}[البقرة:40]

2:40 O children of Israel! Remember My favours upon you. Fulfil your covenant and I will fulfil Mine, and stand in awe of Me ˹alone˺. (Quran.com)

When explaining this covenant, the exegetes generally say that our Lord made a covenant with the Israelites that when the Prophet came, they were to obey him, and they were to affirm him and follow him. If they affirmed and followed the Seal Prophet-Messenger, our Lord would remove from those Israelites the burdens and shackles they had brought upon themselves through sin.

When the Successor al-Hasan al-Basri explained this covenant, he said that it is what is set forth in verse 12 of Surat al-Ma'idah. So let us read that verse:

{يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ هَمَّ قَوْمٌ أَن يَبْسُطُواْ إِلَيْكُمْ أَيْدِيَهُمْ فَكَفَّ أَيْدِيَهُمْ عَنكُمْ وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَعَلَى اللّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُون}[المائدة:11]

5:11 O believers! Remember Allah’s favour upon you: when a people sought to harm you, but He held their hands back from you. Be mindful of Allah. And in Allah let the believers put their trust. (Quran.com)

{وَلَقَدْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَبَعَثْنَا مِنْهُمُ اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ نَقِيبًا ۖ وَقَالَ اللَّهُ إِنِّي مَعَكُمْ ۖ لَئِنْ أَقَمْتُمُ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَيْتُمُ الزَّكَاةَ وَآمَنتُم بِرُسُلِي وَعَزَّرْتُمُوهُمْ وَأَقْرَضْتُمُ اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا لَّأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَلَأُدْخِلَنَّكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ ۚ فَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ مِنكُمْ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ}[المائدة:12]

5:12 Allah made a covenant with the Children of Israel and appointed twelve leaders from among them and ˹then˺ said, “I am truly with you. If you establish prayer, pay alms-tax, believe in My messengers, support them, and lend to Allah a good loan, I will certainly forgive your sins and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow. And whoever among you disbelieves afterwards has truly strayed from the Right Way.” (Quran.com)

There are also scholars who, in explaining this covenant, point to the covenant that Allah, Exalted and Most Great, made with the Jews in the Tawrah: that our Lord would send, from among the descendants of Isma'il (peace be upon him), a great prophet to whom all nations would submit. That prophet is Muhammad ﷺ.

The covenant also mentions that whoever follows the Seal Prophet-Messenger, Allah will forgive his sins, admit him into Paradise, and grant him a double reward. Some scholars also explain “Fulfil My covenant” as meaning the covenant Allah made with His servants—to believe in Islam and to pursue Islam.

When Ibn 'Abbas explained “and I will fulfil yours,” he said that our Lord will be pleased with them and admit them into Paradise. We know that this verse was sent down concerning all the descendants of Israel. Our Lord made a covenant with them, and it clearly says that they are to affirm the Prophet and follow him, and that our Lord will give them the reward of Paradise. So first we must study the favours the Israelites received, and then understand why our Lord mentioned our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in their scripture.

The Favours Given to the Israelites

First, let us understand the favours the Israelites received: the prophets and messengers our Lord sent to them, the missions they carried, and the guidance that came to them in the scriptures sent down to them. After that, let us understand what mission and favour our Lord granted to our Seal Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and gain a comprehensive understanding of the signs of mercy to all the worlds. First, let us begin with Yusuf (peace be upon him), one of the inheritors of prophethood from Israel (peace be upon him), because Ya'qub (peace be upon him) had another name, Israel, so his descendants who received prophethood, and that people, were all called Israelites. Regarding Yusuf (peace be upon him), both the Qur'an and the People of the Book speak about how he subdued his human nature. His human nature, his nafs (lower self), first of all did not command him to commit indecency. The wife of the dignitary and the women of the city all tempted him with the satisfaction of sexual desire, yet he would rather choose prison than choose to commit indecency, because he was a guide for the God-fearing. From this we know that our Lord made him, in this matter, an excellent example to guide the Israelites and the people of that time, so that their human nature would not be enticed by material desire and bodily lust, and so that they would keep away from the sin of committing such indecency. His human nafs also had another exemplary role—not to commit wrongdoing. His brothers wronged him, yet he forgave them; he repaid evil with good. Summed up as a whole, the content of the exemplary mission he bore was to guide people to restrain this human nafs, so that a person’s nafs does not command him to commit indecency or wrongdoing, but instead to do good.

Musa

Now let us read about Musa (peace be upon him). He too was one of the descendants of the Israelites, and he and the Israelites received our Lord’s deliverance from Pharaoh’s persecution. Musa (peace be upon him) had these favours, and our Lord also sent scripture down to him. We all know that the human nafs of Musa (peace be upon him) absolutely did not follow falsehood. Pharaoh adopted him, for example, but he did not want to be his son. What he wanted was the truth. He could distinguish truth from falsehood. He knew which good deeds could obtain eternal reward, and which were only the brief demands of this world. He had a strict standard of good and evil, and when he did good he sought reward only from our Lord. For example, when he fled to Madyan, the two daughters of Shu'ayb were watering their flocks. At that time, the shepherds paid no attention to them and left them behind. These two girls felt shame at pushing to the front to water their flocks. Musa (peace be upon him) helped the weak. He himself was fleeing for his life, yet he still had time, and still stopped, to water for these two girls. So he was one who rushed ahead in doing good. At the same time, after he watered for them, he did not speak of how much he needed others to help him; rather, he asked our Lord to give him good.

In the verses of Surat al-Qasas we can learn that at that time he made supplication, asking our Lord to grant him His favour. Then the daughter of Shu'ayb came to give him some payment. So we know that after he made a covenant with Shu'ayb (peace be upon him), because he married one of Shu'ayb’s daughters, he carefully kept the agreement and never broke it, knowing that even the smallest kindness should be repaid with an overflowing return. Shu'ayb (peace be upon him) was that kind of person. Musa (peace be upon him) had only watered a little for Shu'ayb’s daughters, yet he still wanted to give him wages. This shows that Shu'ayb (peace be upon him) guided people to repay even the smallest kindness with abundance, and to do good. That is to say, in this matter of requital and consequence, and in the requital that exists between human beings, one must repay good. By following Shu'ayb, he too learned these things.

After that, he overcame Pharaoh and all the armies that followed Pharaoh. He was one who relied upon his Lord in a perfect way, because he knew that he himself could not complete the task. So he also asked our Lord to show him mercy and let his brother be his helper. And whenever Musa (peace be upon him) committed even the slightest error in his life, he immediately sought forgiveness. That is to say, he was a humble person. When he killed a man by mistake, he sought forgiveness. When he reproached his brother Harun—he had asked Harun (peace be upon him) to help him keep the Israelites in order while he went to speak privately with our Lord, and when the Israelites fell into error at that time it was Harun who was guiding them—when he reproached Harun and wrongly blamed him, he quickly sought forgiveness. We can learn all of this in Surat al-A'raf.

When he asked our Lord to let him see Him in this world, and our Lord drew near to that mountain, he fell unconscious. Then, after he revived, he again sought forgiveness. He was someone who sought forgiveness at all times. He guided people in how to cultivate humility in human beings: human nature should have the qualities of humility, not the qualities of arrogance. Also, our Lord led him to that sage, so that he might gain knowledge and understand the divine decree, and know that he could not be arrogant, that the knowledge he possessed was only one domain, and that many, many servants who worship our Lord can receive our Lord’s mercy and receive knowledge. After that, while seeking knowledge, he became even more humble. So outwardly a sign became manifest: Musa (peace be upon him) and his followers, these humble people, were made to overcome the arrogant. Pharaoh was arrogant before our Lord, arrogant before our Lord’s truth. Musa (peace be upon him) possessed many miracles and favours given by our Lord, guiding people to the straight path. Pharaoh’s wife, for example, submitted, and other people also, as well as the sorcerers—when they saw the truth, they all submitted. But he and his very small army were arrogant, thinking themselves unmatched and refusing the truth. Our Lord showed mercy to Musa (peace be upon him) and his family, who had the traits of humble human nature, and so He made them overcome the arrogant. Also, our Lord gave Musa (peace be upon him) scripture, and in that scripture were the ways of doing good, and the standards by which good and evil are repaid. He showed him mercy and guided the Israelites to pursue good.

Dawud and Sulayman

Now let us look at Dawud (peace be upon him) and Sulayman (peace be upon him), who possessed kingship and wisdom. They did not possess kingship and wisdom in order to enjoy themselves. They were not issuing commands and doing whatever they wished. Rather, they held the truth firmly in their hands. They possessed the kingship our Lord gave them, and Dawud (peace be upon him) became a vicegerent on earth. In Surat Sad we can learn that Sulayman (peace be upon him), by our Lord’s will and command, subjected the jinn to serve him. Bilqis, for example, wanted to tempt him with property and wealth, but he resolutely sent that money back to them and said that our armies would march up and make them submit. He was not using power and fame to grab wealth or grab enjoyment. Dawud (peace be upon him) was such a great king, yet he still fasted humbly. The fasting he kept became the very highest measure among later people; it cannot be exceeded—if it is exceeded, it becomes extremism. His son even wanted to slaughter horses in order to remember our Lord and not become heedless. All of this proves that no matter how much kingship they possessed, they guided people not to obey the human nafs and not to follow الهوى (al-hawa — personal desire, the urge to satisfy worldly inclinations). What is الهوى? It means seeking the satisfaction of worldly interests. They did not pursue these things. They wanted to remember our Lord and worship our Lord. Their acts of devotion all became a path remembered and followed by later people. They became a guide for the Israelites in how to restrain human nature, not to follow one’s own personal spiritual inclinations, but to turn the driving force of those inclinations toward worshipping the Lord and knowing the Lord. For example, however long the psalms of the Zabur might be, they had to be remembered and not forgotten. One had to remember our Lord at all times, and also perform the night prayer, and also fast by day. If personal inclination becomes too strong, if one takes delight in possessing kingship and goes about conquering everywhere in order to satisfy one’s own personal spiritual inclinations, then that person’s human nafs is following his own personal interests and not the eternal truth. That means those subtle unseen mysteries will not be unveiled for him, and he will be unable to gain more knowledge of our Lord—for example, once our Lord is pleased with him and becomes the foot with which he walks and the hand with which he takes, he will be unable to experience it.

Dawud (peace be upon him) and his son received the favour our Lord gave them. How was that favour obtained? They restrained their human nature so that it would not follow personal interests. Dawud (peace be upon him) fasted by day and prayed by night, and his son remembered the Lord morning and evening, and our Lord aided them. So Sulayman (peace be upon him) could see the jinn, and as for Dawud (peace be upon him), the angels told him whatever was needed—for example, teaching him so that he would not fall into error. They received our Lord’s help and proclaimed the truth on earth, rather than using it for the satisfaction of their own personal spiritual inclinations. In guiding the Israelites, they taught them to aid the truth, to be like these prophets and messengers, to restrain their human nature and not follow their own personal interests, and to support the truth. That is to say, Dawud (peace be upon him) and his son guided people in how to bring their spiritual inclination, الهوى, onto the straight path so that good may appear through it.

The Family of 'Imran

Now let us read about the favour our Lord gave to the family of 'Imran. The members of this family were all detached from this world. There are many stories here, and I will not go into them one by one. Whether the four elders or the three beautiful children—Maryam, Yahya, and 'Isa—they all taught and guided people in how to pursue the eternal reward of the Hereafter, to be detached from this world, and not be deluded by this world. Our Lord has given us a life, and this life, in the brief lifetime of this world, must strive and do good so as to obtain the eternal reward of Paradise in the Hereafter. A human being has a human nafs, and this life is affected by all kinds of bodily causes. This life believes only in the enjoyments that the eye can see, the ear can hear, the hand can touch, the tongue can taste, and the body and skin can feel. It believes only in what can be seen in this world, only in what can be verified; as for the unseen—things that can only be witnessed after resurrection from the dead—there is no certainty in them, no true faith in them. Yet this family became a beautiful guide, guiding the Israelites of that time, through the prophets and messengers our Lord sent them—Yahya (peace be upon him) and 'Isa (peace be upon him), for example, and the miracles they possessed. 'Isa could speak from the moment he was born. While still a youth, Yahya was given wisdom by our Lord, an understanding of the Scripture, and those miracles. This made it easier for the Israelites of that time to believe that the unseen is real. The members of the family of 'Imran, for example, received our Lord’s help. The angels could speak with them and help them, and our Lord helped them by manifesting extraordinary miraculous signs not constrained by the ordinary bounds of preordainment. All of this was meant to guide the Israelites of that time to believe in the unseen, to have certainty in the hidden realm, to worship our Lord for the sake of the everlasting destiny of goodness after resurrection in the Hereafter, to be detached from this world, and to pursue that more beautiful reward. So the family of 'Imran also carried guidance for human nature within it.

A Summary of Their Guidance

To sum up the favours received by the prophets and messengers of the Israelites, and the guidance they gave the Israelites: all of them were guiding human nature, restraining human nature so that it would not be controlled by material desire, would not follow personal spiritual interests; and human nature was to do good; and human life was not to seek only the reward of this brief worldly life, but the eternal Hereafter. Taken as a whole, and speaking by way of summary, all of this was guiding people in how to raise their human nature into the state of the tranquil soul and bring out the ruh (spirit). So when the last and most beautiful prophet and messenger of Israel, 'Isa (peace be upon him), was sent, this ruh appeared as a reward given to human beings. Through Yusuf, our Lord guided the Israelites in how to subdue the human nafs, all the way to the family of 'Imran. Then, after 'Isa (peace be upon him) was sent, our Lord directly called him ruh. He was under our Lord’s protection, and his human nafs remained constantly in the state of the tranquil soul, because the prophets before him had been sent in different domains to guide people, so that the human nafs might be restrained in a complete way, not becoming sinful and restless, but becoming a cultivated and tranquil soul. So 'Isa (peace be upon him) came forth accordingly, directly becoming spirit, becoming ruh. What is this ruh in the human being for? After this state of the tranquil soul, what is it meant to do? The ruh within the human being, this spiritual content, has a higher demand: it wants to see the Lord. Our Lord has bestowed ruh upon us human beings, and this ruh has an important demand—it wants to see the Lord. How does one see the Lord? Our Lord has given us His دين الاسلام (din al-Islam — the religion of Islam), and with Him there is a binding relationship of duty and recompense. By worshipping Him according to His religion, in the Hereafter He grants us the favour of seeing the Lord. So He sent the Seal Prophet to perfect this favour of His mercy to all the worlds, and to perfect Islam. Therefore, this Seal Prophet came to perfect this favour our Lord has given to humankind. Through the perfection of the religion, we may then see the Lord.

Pilgrimage and the Perfection of the Blessing

At that time, the favour the Israelites received from our Lord, in terms of our Lord’s religion, consisted only of the testimony of faith, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. They did not have the favour of pilgrimage, because at that time their direction of prayer was toward the Farthest Mosque. But the Sacred Mosque is the place where the act of worship of pilgrimage is to be perfected. From the time of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), pilgrimage had to begin. Our Lord wanted to perfect the favour He gave humankind, and another important act of worship in the religion is pilgrimage. Beginning with Ibrahim (peace be upon him), our Lord chose Ibrahim’s eldest son, and the descendants of Isma'il inherited there this final act of worship, continuing the path of the father of the prophets, and bringing together the testimony of faith, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage into a complete whole. For pilgrimage contains an important meaning. When Ibrahim was going to sacrifice his son Isma'il, he bore witness to the state of utmost excellence that he possessed—worship the Lord as though you see Him; if you do not see Him, He sees you. Both father and son reached this rank. If the Israelites say that the one our Lord commanded to be sacrificed was Ishaq, then in that case they too should have pilgrimage, because pilgrimage contains this meaning: when a person reaches the traits of the state of utmost excellence, the soul is in a tranquil state, and once the sacred quality of a person’s ruh becomes manifest, it then requires that he go and present an offering, go and visit our Lord’s House in this world, and go and make pilgrimage. That is to say, in this world one visits His House, knows the Lord and worships the Lord in the unseen, and in the Hereafter one seeks to see the Lord. So in this world there must certainly be a gathering.

And this activity will continue unceasingly. So long as among humankind there are those who have reached the tranquil soul, whose human nafs has been cultivated, who bear the holy attributes of the ruh, and who desire to see the Lord, it will continue. Because in this world we worship the Lord in the unseen, our Lord has given us a House that belongs to Him in which to remember Him and worship Him, and has given humankind a perfect place in which to present an offering. So long as such people exist, this act of worship of pilgrimage will continue without interruption. Let us look at the Israelites—did they have this activity? Of course they did not. Their prophets were sent to guide them so that the human nafs might receive guidance. The human nafs of humankind asks for the reward of Paradise and distance from the Fire; that is its demand.

The Seal Prophet’s Guidance

When a person possesses the state of the tranquil soul, the sanctity of the ruh becomes manifest. Sanctity means knowing the Lord and worshipping the Lord. And what is the greatest knowing of the Lord in the Hereafter? It is to see Him. So after 'Isa (peace be upon him), who was brought forth and made manifest in human history, what was the Seal Prophet sent to do? It was to guide people into Paradise, into Firdaus; to bring forth the human side to do good, and also to call forth the spiritual ruh to do good; to perfect the relationship of religious duty and recompense between our Lord and His servants; to worship the Lord through the acts of worship His religion has given us; and then, bringing with oneself all the good that one’s human nature has done, and the good our Lord has enabled our spirit to do, to make an offering of it and ask our Lord to accept our purely good deeds. Pilgrimage requires pure goodness. If a person asks our Lord to accept his good while he goes there laden with sins upon sins, can that do? So pilgrimage is an act of worship of pure goodness. At this point we say that the guidance our Lord gave us in our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is the culminating favour. It not only guides people in how to meet the needs of human nature by seeking Paradise, but also guides people in how to meet the need of the ruh, that spirit, to see the Lord. So in this world he is the Seal Prophet-Messenger, and in the Hereafter he is the one who leads people to see the Lord—not only leading people into Paradise, but leading people to see the Lord. This is his guidance. This is one of the signs of our Lord’s mercy to all the worlds. That is why the scriptures of the Israelites speak of this prophet being sent. Because their human nature did good, the good they had already done would be accepted by our Lord and rewarded with Paradise, becoming an offering for seeing the Lord in the Hereafter. If, in addition, they affirmed this sent Seal Prophet, closely followed his path, and supported him, then the good they did would increase and become an offering by which they enter Paradise and see the Lord, becoming a double reward. That is how this is to be understood. And that is also why 'Isa (peace be upon him), in the end, will descend to support the path of the Seal Prophet-Messenger sent by our Lord. Because he is ruh, he still has another act of worship: he must guide people in perfecting the pilgrimage. After he descends, he will also carry out this activity. Of course, every part of his path is in following our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. He comes to make the most perfect affirmation and witness, and he is also to be a follower.

Today I will stop with this topic here. If anything was not explained clearly, or if there were slips of the tongue, I ask Allah to forgive me, and I ask the readers for their forbearance. Thank you all for sharing.

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

Qur’an translation source: The Clear Qur’an — Dr. Mustafa Khattab

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