Surah Al-Israa (17) — Ayah 8

(Ayah 8) ➊ {عَسٰى رَبُّكُمْ اَنْ يَّرْحَمَكُمْ :} This is a statement of Allah’s mercy, that even after such rebellion and punishment, if you turn back and, after this second rebellion and the resulting indescribable destruction, follow the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel, then there is every hope that your Lord will have mercy on you, as Allah Almighty has said in Surah Al-A’raf, verses (156, 157), that My mercy encompasses all things, so I will surely write it for those who follow this Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written with them in the Torah and the Gospel. Accordingly, as per this glad tiding, those Israelites, such as Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) and others, who believed in the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), became deserving of Allah’s mercy.

➋ { وَ اِنْ عُدْتُّمْ عُدْنَا :} That is, if you again exceed the limits and commit great corruption, We will deal with you in the same way as before. Thus, when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to Madinah, he made a pact with the Jews of Madinah to live peacefully and to unite against any attacking enemy. But Banu Qaynuqa violated the honor of a Muslim woman, then broke the pact; the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) besieged them and eventually exiled them from Madinah. Then, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) once went to the tribe of Banu Nadir for a matter, and they plotted to martyr him by dropping a stone from the roof, which came to his knowledge; he besieged them, they could not withstand the confrontation, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) intended to give them the punishment mentioned in their book, the Torah, but due to the excessive insistence of their sympathizer, Abdullah bin Ubayy the hypocrite, he spared their lives and exiled them as well. Then, the third tribe, Banu Qurayzah, during the Battle of the Trench, when an army of ten thousand disbelievers had besieged the small town of Madinah, broke the pact in the midst of war and sided with the enemy. After dealing with the attackers, the Prophet (peace be upon him) besieged Banu Qurayzah. They could not resist, so they surrendered themselves to the Muslims on the decision of their old well-wisher and sympathizer, Sa’d bin Mu’adh (may Allah be pleased with him). If they had surrendered to the decision of the Prophet (peace be upon him), perhaps he would have shown them leniency as with the previous tribes, but when they chose Sa’d bin Mu’adh (may Allah be pleased with him) as the arbitrator, hoping that he would consider their old friendship like Abdullah bin Ubayy the hypocrite, Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Now the time has come that no friendship should stand in the way of Sa’d implementing Allah’s command.” Thus, he gave the decision that was mentioned in the Torah and which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also declared to be Allah’s decision. Accordingly, all their adult men, who were seven hundred, were killed, and their women and children were made slaves. [ دیکھیے بخاری، المغازی، باب مرجع النبي صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم من الأحزاب…: ۴۱۲۲ ] This was an interpretation of {’’ وَ اِنْ عُدْتُّمْ عُدْنَا ‘‘}. Then, the people of Khaybar broke the hands and feet of Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), so the Commander of the Faithful, Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), exiled all Jews and Christians from the entire Arabian Peninsula. Then, according to Allah’s promise, for every rebellion of theirs, some ruler always arose to subdue them. (See Al-A’raf: 167) In recent times, Hitler subjected them to a dreadful fate. Now, with the backing of all disbelievers—Christians, Communists, and idolatrous Hindus—these people have occupied Jerusalem in Palestine, established their state in the name of Israel, and are inflicting mountains of oppression on the Muslims of Palestine, and all disbelievers are with them due to enmity towards Muslims. If Allah wills, according to His promise, soon the same will happen to them again as has happened before. Then that time will also come when, in war with the Muslims, even stones and trees will inform the Muslims about them for their killing, as has previously been mentioned in the Sahih Muslim hadith. This is Allah’s decree, which no one can prevent from being implemented. This entire story of Bani Israel has been narrated to the Muslims as a lesson, that if you do the same, the same will happen to you.

➌ {وَ جَعَلْنَا جَهَنَّمَ لِلْكٰفِرِيْنَ حَصِيْرًا:’’ حَصِيْرًا ‘‘} Either it is from {’’حَصَرَ يَحْصُرُ حَصْرًا ‘‘} (n), which means to imprison, to surround, i.e., a prison, or it refers to the mat (reed mat) that is spread out, i.e., Hell will be their bedding, as He said: «لَهُمْ مِّنْ جَهَنَّمَ مِهَادٌ » [الأعراف : ۴۱ ] “For them will be beds of Hell.”

8. 1 This is a warning to them that if you reform yourselves, you will become deserving of Allah’s mercy. This means success and honor in this world and the Hereafter. But if you again choose the path of disobedience to Allah and commit corruption in the land, then We will again subject you to humiliation and disgrace, just as We have dealt with you twice before. And this is exactly what happened: these Jews did not refrain from their actions and repeated the same behavior regarding the Prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ as they had done with the Prophethood of Musa and the Prophethood of Isa. As a result, these Jews were, for the third time, humiliated at the hands of the Muslims and, with great disgrace, had to leave Madinah and Khaybar.

8. 2 That is, after the disgrace in this world, there is the separate punishment of Hell in the Hereafter and its torment, which they will have to endure there.

It may be that your Lord will have mercy on you, but if you return (to sin), We will return (to punishment) [9]. And We have made Hell a prison for the disbelievers.

[9]
The Mischief of the Jews in the Prophetic Era and Its Punishment:

After mentioning the two instances of extreme rebellion and their punishment, the Jews of the Prophetic era are being warned that if you continue the same rebellion and disobedience against this Last Prophet ﷺ as you did during the times of the previous prophets, then you will receive the same punishment as before. However, even this warning had no effect on them, and the Jews of Madinah, instead of believing in the Last Prophet ﷺ, continued to break promises, commit mischief, and stir up trouble against him ﷺ. As a result, they were punished: some were killed, some were made slaves, and some were exiled. Eventually, during the era of Umar Farooq ؓ, all the Jews were expelled from there and the land of Arabia was cleared of them.