2. Surah Al Baqarah
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
أَمْ
تَقُولُونَ
إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ
وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ
وَإِسْحَـقَ
وَيَعْقُوبَ
...
2: 140. Or do ye say that Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob
... وَالأسْبَاطَ كَانُواْ هُودًا أَوْ نَصَارَى ...
and the Tribes were Jews or Christians?
C138. The alternative is with the question in the last verse.
Do you dispute with us although we worship the same God as you and claim that ours is the same religion as that of your ancestors?
Or do you really assert that Abraham and his son and his sons' sons, who founded the Tribes long before Moses, followed your Jewish religion as you know it?
History of course proves that claim absurd. If the Christians claim that these Patriarchs knew of and followed the teaching of Jesus, the claim is still more absurd, - except in the sense of Islam that Allah's teaching is one in all ages.
... قُلْ أَأَنتُمْ أَعْلَمُ أَمِ اللّهُ ...
Say: Do ye know better than Allah?
... وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّن كَتَمَ شَهَادَةً عِندَهُ مِنَ اللّهِ ...
Ah! who is more unjust than those who conceal the testimony they have from Allah?
... وَمَا اللّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ ﴿١٤٠﴾
But Allah is not unmindful of what ye do!
تِلْكَ
أُمَّةٌ قَدْ
خَلَتْ لَهَا
مَا كَسَبَتْ
وَلَكُم مَّا
كَسَبْتُمْ...
2: 141. That was a people that hath passed away.
They shall reap the fruit of what they did, and ye of what ye do!
... وَلاَ تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿١٤١﴾
Of their merits there is no question in your case.
C139. Verse 134 began a certain argument, which is now rounded off in the same words in this verse. To use a musical term, the motif is now completed.
The argument is that it is wrong to claim a monopoly for Allah's Message: it is the same for all peoples 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 Surah that with the renewal of the Message and the birth of a new People, a new symbolism and new ordinances become appropriate, and they are now expounded.
Other versions:
2: 140
Asad “Do you claim that Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and their descendants were “Jews” or “Christians”? [note 114] Say: “ Do you know more than God does? And who could be more wicked than he who suppresses a testimony given to him by God? [ note 115] Yet God is not unmindful of what you do.
Yusuf Ali Or do ye say that Abraham Isma`il Isaac Jacob and the Tribes were Jews or Christians? Say: Do ye know better than Allah? Ah! who is more unjust than those who conceal the testimony they have from Allah? But Allah is not unmindful of what ye do!
Pickthall Or say ye that Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes were Jews or Christians? Say: Do ye know best, or doth Allah? And who is more unjust than he who hide a testimony which he hath received from Allah? Allah is not unaware of what ye do.
Transliteration Am taqu_lu_na inna ibra_hima wa isma_'ila wa isha_qa wa ya'qu_ba wal asba_ta ka_nu_ hu_dan au nasa_ra_, qul a'antum a'lamu amilla_hu, wa man azlamu mimman katama syaha_datan 'indahu_ minalla_h(i), wa malla_hu bi ga_filin 'amma_ ta'malu_n(a).
[ Asad’s note 113: ……….The Jews believe that prophethood was a privilege granted to the children of Israel alone, while the Christians maintain that Jesus – who, too, descended from the Children of Israel – was God’s final manifestation on earth; and each of these two denominations claims that salvation is reserved to its followers alone [see 2:111 and 135]. The Quran refutes these ideas by stressing, in the next sentence, that God is the Lord of all mankind, and that every individual will be judged on the basis of his own beliefs and his own behavior alone.
Note 114: Regarding the term ‘asbat’ (rendered here as well in verse 136 as “descendants”), see note 111 above. In the above words the Quran alludes to the fact that the concept of “Jewry” came into being many centuries after the time of the Patriarchs, and even long after time of Moses, while the concepts of “Christianity” and “Christians” were unknown in Jesus’ time and represent later developments.
Note 115: A reference to the Biblical prediction of the coming of the Prophet Muhammad (see note 33 on verse 42 on this surah), which effectively contradicts the Judeo-Christian claim that all true prophets, after the Patriarchs, belong to the children of Israel.]
[ Ali’s notes: 138 ………….. Or do you really assert that Abraham and his son and his sons' sons, who founded the Tribes long before Moses, followed your Jewish religion as you know it? History of course proves that claim absurd. If the Christians claim that these Patriarchs knew of and followed the teaching of Jesus, the claim is still more absurd, - except in the sense of Islam that God's teaching is one in all ages. (2.140)
139 …………….The argument is that it is wrong to claim a monopoly for God's Message: it is the same for all peoples 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 Sura that with the renewal of the Message and the birth of a new People, a new symbolism and new ordinances become appropriate, and they are now expounded. (2.141)]
2: 141
Yusuf Ali That was a people that hath passed away. They shall reap the fruit of what they did and ye of what ye do! Of their merits there is no question in your case.
Pickthall Those are a people who have passed away; theirs is that which they earned and yours that which ye earn. And ye will not be asked of what they used to do.
Tilka ummatun qad khalat, laha_ ma_ kasabat wa lakum ma_ kasabtum, wa la_ tus'alu_na 'amma_ ka_nu_ ya'malu_n(a).