Quran Garden

Imagine seeing well-known religious leaders throw away the beliefs they preach, bow down to idols they know are false, and team up with idol-worshippers, all because of their hatred for one man!  It sounds hard to believe, but that is exactly what the verses we will discuss today describe.  Before we begin, could you do QuranGarden a small favor: subscribe and turn on the notification bell?  Thank you.

Session 637

Chapter 4

Verses 51 & 52

Do you not see how those given a share of the Scripture now believe in idols and evil powers, and say of the disbelievers, "They are more rightly guided than the believers"?

(Chapter 4: Verse 51)

After the battle of U?ud, ?uyayy ibn Akhtab, Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, Ibn Ab? al-?uqayq, and Ab? R?fi'-the chiefs of the Jews of Medina- took seventy prominent members of their tribes and went to meet the leaders of Quraysh in Mecca.  This high-ranking delegation was on a mission to betray and break the covenant between the Jews of Medina and the Muslims.  Their leader, Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, met with Ab? Sufy?n and said to him: "We want to make a pact with you against Muhammad." Ab? Sufy?n said, "You are people of the Book, you have the Torah, faith in heaven, and a messenger.  We believe in none of this.  Muhammad says he is a man of the Book and a messenger.  There is far more common between you and the Muslims.  What assures us that you are not conspiring with Muhammad against us?  I cannot trust you unless you come to our gods, prostrate before them and perform the rites of worship." 

Al-jibt and Al-??gh?t were two idols among the idols of Quraysh.  The Jewish elites, people of the Heavenly Torah, went and submitted to them.  "Al-jibt" means anything that leads people away from Allah—like devils, fortune-tellers, or sorcerers.  "Al-??gh?t" refers to someone or something that goes beyond all limits in evil and rebellion, especially when people keep obeying and following it in wrongdoing.  Whether these terms referred to actual idols or false gods is not the main point; the main point is that some Jewish leaders lowered themselves before false objects of worship, even bowing to them, so Quraysh would see that they were united against the Messenger of God.

Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf asked Ab? Sufy?n, "What did Muhammad do to you?  He is of your tribe." He replied, "He abandoned the religion of his fathers, severed his kinship, left us, and fled to Medina.  We are better than him.  We give drink to the pilgrims, host the guest, free the captive, uphold kinship ties, maintain the Ka'ba, and circumambulate it." The Jewish leader, who had both: the Torah and hearts filled with enmity toward Muhammad, said to Ab? Sufy?n and Quraysh, the idol worshippers, "You are better guided on the way of God than Muhammad!"

Allah says to His beloved Messenger: O Muhammad, see their wonders!  They were given a share of the Scripture, yet their enmity toward you and standing against Islam, against the light you brought, made them discard what they had of the heavens and believe in al-jibt and al-??gh?t.  These were the same elites who, not too long ago, used to say to the warring Arabs of Medina, "A prophet will soon come.  We will follow him and kill you with the killing of '?d and Iram." We ask: do such people have anything to do with religion?  Do they believe in anything!?

The Almighty reassured His Messenger that such people have been cut off from heavenly support.  Why?  Because they abandoned their Scriptures.  So if war or conflict breaks out between you and them, know that God is with you as your Helper and Supporter.  Do not be fooled because they claim to be People of the Book.  Do not be deceived by their wealth, knowledge, or riches, for all will perish.  The partners they associated with God have taken hold of them, possessed them, and gathered them to itself.  They will be defeated.  And humiliated  This is the price for abandoning faith.  God says in the next Aya,

Those are the ones God has cursed.  And if someone is cursed by God, you will not find anyone to help him.  (Chapter 2: Verse 52)

"Those" refers to the ones who were given a share of the Scripture yet believe in al-jibt and al-??gh?t and say to the disbelievers: "You are better guided on the way than the believers." Or "Those" refers to both the alliance of the Jews and the idolaters together.  Let us take it as a reference to them all.  God says, "Those are the ones God has cursed." To 'curse' may mean expulsion, disgrace, or destruction.

How does Allah disgrace disbelievers?  In many ways, the least of which is them seeing the Islamic tide increasing every day while their land and influence diminish.  God says,

Do they not see how We come to their land and shrink its borders?  God decides- no one can reverse His decision- and He is swift in reckoning.  (13:41)

Let's not lose sight of who is doing the cursing, expelling, and disgracing.  It is God Almighty.  If I expel you from your home, you may call your friends or the police and force your way back in, because we are equals.  But when the Expeller is Allah, no power, group, or helper can overturn His will.  He says, "And whoever God curses, you will find no helper for him." When God abandons a person or a group, He instills in the hearts of all people to abandon them too, so no one helps them.