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Section/Ruku 33
[Verses 249 to 253]: Fighting in the cause of
Truth:
Chapter
2: (Al-Baqarah - The Cow)
(Revealed at Madinah:
40 sections; 286 verses)
1. Translation:
249 So when Saul set out with the
forces, he said: Surely Allah will try you with a river.
Whoever drinks from it, he is not of me, and whoever tastes
it not, he is surely of me, except he who takes a handful
with his hand. But they drank of it save a few of
them.a
So when he had crossed it, he and those who believed with
him, they said: We have today no power against
Goliathb
and his forces. Those who were sure that they would meet
their Lord said: How often has a small party vanquished a
numerous host by Allah’s permission! And Allah is with
the steadfast.c
250 And when
they went out against Goliath and his forces, they said: Our
Lord, pour out patience on us and make our steps firm and
help us against the disbelieving people.
251 So they put
them to fight by Allah’s permission. And David slew
Goliath, and Allah gave him kingdom and
wisdom,a
and taught him of what He pleased. And were it not for
Allah’s repelling some men by others, the earth would
certainly be in a state of disorder;b
but Allah is Full of grace to the worlds.
252 These are
the messages of Allah — We recite them to thee with
truth; and surely thou art of the messengers.
Part
3
253 We have
made some of these messengers to excel
others.a
Among them are they to whom Allah spoke, and some of them He
exalted by (many) degrees of rank.b
And We gave clear arguments to Jesus son of Mary, and
strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. And if Allah had
pleased, those after them would not have fought one with
another after clear arguments had come to them, but they
disagreed; so some of them believed and some of them denied.
And if Allah had pleased they would not have fought one with
another, but Allah does what He intends.
2.
Commentary:
249a.
“The story of Saul is here confounded with that of
Gideon” says a Christian critic. All that the
Qur’an states is that Saul tried his forces by a river,
and the Bible does not say anything about it. On the other
hand, the Bible speaks of a trial of a somewhat similar
nature by Gideon (Judges 7:1–6), while the Qur’an
does not speak of Gideon at all. The Qur’an does not
undertake to give a full and detailed history of the
Israelites, and no Christian does, I think, hold the belief
that the Bible gives a full and detailed record of the whole
of the Israelite nation, so that it could not have omitted a
single incident. Nor is there anything strange if Saul
followed the example of Gideon. That these are two different
incidents is made clear by the fact that while Gideon tried
his forces by “the well of Harod” (Judges 7:1),
Saul tried his forces by a river, as stated in the
Qur’an. It further appears from the Bible that the
river Jordan was there: “Some of the Hebrews went over
Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead” (1 Sam. 13:7).
[Back
to verse 249]
249b.
The Arabic word is Jalut, of the same measure as
Talut, meaning he assailed or assaulted
in the battle (LL), and thus instead of Goliath the Holy
Qur’an has adopted a name which expresses his chief
characteristic. [Back
to verse 249]
249c.
Compare 1 Sam. 14:6: “For there is no restraint to the
Lord to save by many or by few”. And on one occasion
only six hundred men were left with him (1 Sam.13:15).
[Back
to verse 249]
251a.
David was both a king and a prophet. [Back
to verse 251]
251b.
Thus the Muslims are told that they have to fight to restore
order and establish peace in the country. [Back
to verse 251]
253a.
The principle is here
recognised that some messengers excel others, and it
contains, apparently, a reference to the excellence of the
Prophet Muhammad. The mention of David and Jesus in
particular here is to show that, notwithstanding that these
two prophets represented two different aspects of the
advancement of the Israelite nation, David standing for
their worldly eminence and Jesus for their spiritual
eminence, they both sang praises of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad, and both spoke of his advent as the advent of God
Himself, thus indicating that, looked at from both
standpoints, the excellence of the Prophet over other
prophets was so immeasurable as to have led two of the most
eminent Israelite prophets to speak of his advent as the
coming of the Lord.
Numerous verses of the Holy
Qur’an bear testimony to the greatness of the Holy
Prophet. He is repeatedly spoken of as being endowed with
all those qualities of greatness in the highest degree which
to others were given only partially and in a less degree. It
is for this reason that the Prophet is declared to be a
mercy to all nations (21:107), and his followers are called
the best of the people (3:110), which shows that he is the
greatest of the prophets. [Back
to verse 253]
253b.
Allah spoke to all, but there were some who were exalted
above others by many degrees. Compare this with v. 87:
“And some (of the prophets) you gave the lie to and
others you would slay”, whereas those whom they tried
to kill were also called liars. [Back
to verse 253]
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