﷽
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 141:*
تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَلَكُم مَّا كَسَبْتُمْ وَلَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
That was a nation who has passed away. They shall receive the reward of what they earned, and you of what you earn. And you will not be asked of what they used to do.
*COMMENTARY*
Verse 134 (Sūra Al-Baqarah) began a certain argument, which is now rounded off in the same words in this verse. The argument is that it is wrong to claim a monopoly for Allāh's Messenger; it is the same for all people and in all ages: if it undergoes local variations or variations according to times and seasons those variations pass away. This leads to the argument in the remainder of the Sūra that with the renewal of the Message and the birth of a new people, a new ordinances become appropriate, and they are now expounded.
﷽
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 142:*
سَيَقُولُ السُّفَهَاءُ مِنَ النَّاسِ مَا وَلَّاهُمْ عَن قِبْلَتِهِمُ الَّتِي كَانُوا عَلَيْهَا قُل لِّلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ
The fools (pagans, hypocrites, and Jews) among the people will say, "What has turned them (Muslims) from their Qiblah [prayer direction (towards Jerusalem)] to which they were used to face in prayer." Say, (O Muhammad [Blessings and Peace be upon him]) "To Allah belong both, east and the west. He guides whom He wills to a Straight Way."
*COMMENTARY*
Nās =people, the unthinking multitude that sway to and fro, instead of being firm in Allāh's Way. The reference here is to the idolaters, the Hypocrites, and the party of Jews who were constantly seeking to "entangle in their talk," Al-Mustafā and his disciples in Madinah even as the Pharisees and the Sadducees of Jesus's day tried to entangle Jesus (Gospel of St Mathew, New Testament, chapter xxii, verses 15 and 23)
Qibla = the direction to which Muslims turn in prayer. Islam lays great stress on social prayer in order to emphasise our universal Brotherhood and mutual cooperation. For such prayer, order, punctuality, precision, symbolical postures, and a common direction are essential, so that the Imām (leader) and all his congregation may face one way and offer their supplications to Allāh (Sub-haanahu wata'aala). In the early days, before they were organised as a people, they followed as a symbol for their Qibla the sacred city of Jerusalem, sacred both to the Jews and the Christians, the people of the Book. This symbolised their allegiance to the continuity of Allāh's revelation. When, despised and persecuted, they were turned out of Makkah and arrived in Madinah, Al-Mustafā (Blessings and Peace be upon him) under divine direction began to organise its people as an Ummat, an independent people, with laws and rituals of their own. At that stage the Ka'abah was established as Qibla, thus going back to the earliest centre, with which the name of Abraham was connected, and traditionally also the name of Ādam (A.S.). Jerusalem still remained (and remains) sacred in the eyes of Islam on account of its past, but Islam is a progressive religion, and its new symbolism enabled it to shake off the tradition of a dead past and usher in the era of untrammelled freedom dear to the spirit of Arabia. The change took place about (16 1/2) months after Hijra.
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 141:*
تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَلَكُم مَّا كَسَبْتُمْ وَلَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
That was a nation who has passed away. They shall receive the reward of what they earned, and you of what you earn. And you will not be asked of what they used to do.
*COMMENTARY*
Verse 134 (Sūra Al-Baqarah) began a certain argument, which is now rounded off in the same words in this verse. The argument is that it is wrong to claim a monopoly for Allāh's Messenger; it is the same for all people and in all ages: if it undergoes local variations or variations according to times and seasons those variations pass away. This leads to the argument in the remainder of the Sūra that with the renewal of the Message and the birth of a new people, a new ordinances become appropriate, and they are now expounded.
﷽
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 142:*
سَيَقُولُ السُّفَهَاءُ مِنَ النَّاسِ مَا وَلَّاهُمْ عَن قِبْلَتِهِمُ الَّتِي كَانُوا عَلَيْهَا قُل لِّلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ
The fools (pagans, hypocrites, and Jews) among the people will say, "What has turned them (Muslims) from their Qiblah [prayer direction (towards Jerusalem)] to which they were used to face in prayer." Say, (O Muhammad [Blessings and Peace be upon him]) "To Allah belong both, east and the west. He guides whom He wills to a Straight Way."
*COMMENTARY*
Nās =people, the unthinking multitude that sway to and fro, instead of being firm in Allāh's Way. The reference here is to the idolaters, the Hypocrites, and the party of Jews who were constantly seeking to "entangle in their talk," Al-Mustafā and his disciples in Madinah even as the Pharisees and the Sadducees of Jesus's day tried to entangle Jesus (Gospel of St Mathew, New Testament, chapter xxii, verses 15 and 23)
Qibla = the direction to which Muslims turn in prayer. Islam lays great stress on social prayer in order to emphasise our universal Brotherhood and mutual cooperation. For such prayer, order, punctuality, precision, symbolical postures, and a common direction are essential, so that the Imām (leader) and all his congregation may face one way and offer their supplications to Allāh (Sub-haanahu wata'aala). In the early days, before they were organised as a people, they followed as a symbol for their Qibla the sacred city of Jerusalem, sacred both to the Jews and the Christians, the people of the Book. This symbolised their allegiance to the continuity of Allāh's revelation. When, despised and persecuted, they were turned out of Makkah and arrived in Madinah, Al-Mustafā (Blessings and Peace be upon him) under divine direction began to organise its people as an Ummat, an independent people, with laws and rituals of their own. At that stage the Ka'abah was established as Qibla, thus going back to the earliest centre, with which the name of Abraham was connected, and traditionally also the name of Ādam (A.S.). Jerusalem still remained (and remains) sacred in the eyes of Islam on account of its past, but Islam is a progressive religion, and its new symbolism enabled it to shake off the tradition of a dead past and usher in the era of untrammelled freedom dear to the spirit of Arabia. The change took place about (16 1/2) months after Hijra.
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