Quran Garden

Session 261

Chapter 2

Verses 243 & 244

Didn’t you see those who abandoned their homes, though they were in the thousands, for fear of death? Allah said to them: "Die." Then He restored them to life. Truly, God shows real favor to people, but most of them are ungrateful.

(Chapter 2: Verse 243)

             God is the only One who gives life; He is the One who takes it away.  There is no escaping or delaying fate.  The question: ‘Didn’t you see those who abandoned their homes, though they were in the thousands, for fear of death?’ is meant to highlight this fact.  Those who left their homes to escape death will do so to no avail.  God soon caused them to die to teach them, and all of us, a valuable lesson.  Had the punishment been delayed to the hereafter, it would have been pointless because in the hereafter all matters are settled and there is no longer a need to learn a lesson. 

             God gave us the reason behind these people leaving their homes in mass.  It was ‘for fear of death.’  As we all know, there is no escaping death.  It is something that every living being will experience.  People of faith should be most aware of this fact.  So God caused them to die and then brought them back to life to show them their error.  As we noted earlier, the reason for their escape was not mentioned.  We do not know if they were in fear for their lives from an approaching enemy, widespread disease, or something entirely different.  The reason does not matter; it is part of the lesson God wants you to ponder.  Life and death are Allah’s domain.  Perhaps the phrase ‘though they were in the thousands’ should give us a peek into the poor spiritual status of this group.  They were large in numbers, so they should not have been afraid.  They were large in numbers, yet they did not advise one another to put their trust in God.  No one said: ‘let’s face our problems and leave life and death to God.’

             Here we should pause and examine the phrase: Allah said to them: "Die."  When you give a command and tell someone to do something, it should be within his or her ability.  You cannot ask someone to do the impossible.  Here you may think: if God is asking them to die, they can just kill themselves.  But you would be confusing death and killing.  Death happens for no reason or through something outside your control and the control of others.  Killing, on the other hand, could be by suicide or murder.  God teaches us the distinction in the following verse:

Muhammad is but a Messenger, and Messengers passed away before him. If, then, he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels? Whoever turns back on his heels can in no way harm God. But God will reward the grateful. (3:144)

             In this verse, dying and killing were mentioned separately and distinctly.  We can find further clarification in the following verse:

No soul may die except with God’s permission at a predestined time. If anyone strives for the rewards of this world, We will give him some of them. If anyone strives for the rewards of the Hereafter, We will give him some of them: We will reward the grateful. (3:145)

             Death, its time and manner, is the domain of God alone.  So when God issued the command ‘"Die." Then He restored them to life.’  They had no say in the matter of dying or coming back to life whatsoever.  Life and death happen via God’s command: ‘Be’ and it becomes.  Here is another example of matters exclusively in God’s hands.  The Almighty says:

Then He turned to the sky, which was smoke.  He said to it and the earth, ‘Come into being, willingly or not,’ and they said, ‘We come willingly’ (41:11)

             In matters of creation, life, and death, there is no choice.  In other words: there is no cheating death.  When Omar ibn Al Khattab –the second Muslim Caliphate after the Prophet- advised people not to travel to the lands where the plague was present, they asked: Are you telling us to evade fate?  He answered: “we turn away from what God had decreed for us into what God had decreed for us.”  Omar understood the essence of faith: we have complete trust in our Lord; we completely submit to Him; and, just as importantly, we do the best that we can with the tools God put at our disposal.  Take the example of Khaled ibn Al Waleed –the famous leader of the Muslim armies-.  On his deathbed he said: “I have participated in well over a hundred battles; every inch of my body has a scar from a strike of a sword or a jab of a spear, yet I lay here to die on a bed like cattle.” He continued: “My condition should be a lesson for every coward.”  Khaled’s life and death serve as an example for every soldier who is afraid to go into battle.  Going into war is not the cause of death; nor is staying at home the cause of staying alive.  Anyone who struggles in God’s way should know that no harm would befall him or her except what God had decreed.          

             Here, you may ask: why did God bring the people in the verse back to life? We answer that their resurrection is meant as a lesson for them and for us all.  This story is immortalized in scripture for all to learn God can bring you back to life after death.      

             The verse ends with: “Truly, God shows real favor to people, but most of them are ungrateful.”  A favor is something above your needs or more than you deserve.  Allah always blesses us with more than we deserve.  How can talk about death be a favor? We answer that we are all destined to die;  the people who were fleeing death –either from disease or war- have discarded the fact that dying of disease caries within it mercy from Allah and expiation form sins.  Dying in battle brings the honor of martyrdom.  We often overlook the blessings of life and the blessings of death.  Allah is our creator, and every creator takes the utmost care of his or her creation whether in living or dying.

             Keeping the lessons of this verse in mind, we look to the next verse in ‘The Cow.’  God says:

And fight in God’s cause and remember that He is all hearing and all knowing.

(Chapter 2: Verse 244)

             When the need arises to defend one’s home and faith, fear of death should not be part of what a Muslim says or thinks.  God grants life and takes it away.  He is fully aware of what you say, think and do.  The same concept that applies to life and death also applies to wealth and loss.  Allah grants wealth and takes it away.  He says:

As for those who stayed behind, and said of their brothers, ‘If only they had listened to us, they would not have been killed,’ tell them, ‘Ward off death from yourselves, if what you say is true.’ (3:168)